Call it road fatigue, overconfidence or just plain carelessness by the Nuggets, but after playing the spoiler to A.I.’s Philly return (93-83), Denver’s Western surge has been corked for the time being.
When A.I. stepped onto his old hunting grounds, I couldn’t help but feel some sort of comfort with the situation. No professional wants to be forced out of work, so when A.I. held his “retirement” conference everyone watching knew, deep down that the 34 year old ‘Answer’ would make his return. As expected A.I. was picked up by the 76er’s and made his deput return against his former team in Denver. In 38 minutes, Iverson contributed 6 assists and 11 points as his Philly squad fell short against Chauncey and the Nuggets 93-83. Mr. Big Shot put on a display with 31 points, 8 assists and 8 rebounds.
Storming into Charlotte, the Nuggets had all the momentum to continue their winning streak. At no point in a game that Denver had the expectation to win did they ever have a hold on the Bobcats. To try and pinpoint where Denver faltered is difficult, mainly because they suffered in numerous aspects of the game: offensive and defensive rebounds, fastbreak points and time management. Denver also suffered with the intangibles; hustle, strong post play and committing lazy fouls. The Nuggets also played without starting Forward, Kenyon Martin, who dislocated his pinky finger against the 76er’s; come on Kenyon, tape it up and get on the court, I’m sure all those body tat’s stung more than this weak injury that benched you. Melo put fourth a strong outing with 34 points and 7 boards, but it wasn’t enough to save his team as Denver sunk in Charlotte 107-95.
After the unfortunate Charlotte charade, Denver rode into the Motor City hoping to regain their form and confidence that has lacked the past 2 games. The injury battered Pistons, lacking stars Hamilton, Gordon, Prince and Bynum, presented a young team to defend Detroit’s winning streak, and defend they did. Up and coming star Charlie Villenueva compiled 27 points and the bruiser, Ben Wallace, collected a rediculous 16 rebounds to out race Denver to the finish 101-99. Melo seemed to be the one bright spot for Denver, scoring 40 points, however, he blew a last minute layup that may have flipped the game in Denver’s favor. Regardless, the Nuggets once again lacked toughness in the paint and allowed Detroit to clean the boards all night long. This is only the second time all season Denver has lossed back-to-back games, and let’s hope these types of losses remain an oddity.
Reflecting over the past two weeks, Denver has proven they can compete and win against tough opposition, however, their lack in determination against weaker oppenents shows us that Denver has a good basketball team, but still falls short of being great. Great teams find ways to win big games and win games that are expected of them and the Nuggets still find themselves half way up a slippery hill not quite able to get their footing. I also believe Denver will need to compile a few players to negotiate a trade later this season, who they should trade and what type of player is needed is definitely up for debate, but I say think BIG MAN!
Denver will have an opportunity in the next two games at home to gather themselves and regain the composure they had shown after conquering the Spurs a week ago. The Nuggets will play host to the Phoenix Suns tomorrow night and welcome the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday night.
