Billups dressed but did not play in the second of back-to-back losses for the Nuggets
Enjoying the ride Nuggets fans? I’m not!
After three convincing home victories, Denver seems to have left town on a flat tire. Without Chauncey in the line-up, the Nuggets don’t have the leadership on the court to help control game tempo. Now that we have seen Denver without Kenyon and without Billups, the Nuggets’ deficiencies are flaunting themselves to the opposition and to the fans.
On Friday, December 18th, Denver cruised into New Orleans fresh off a home-town high. However, Chris Paul was prepared to bring Denver down to sea level.
After a competitive first half, Denver was not ready for the Hornets’ third quarter sting as New Orleans outscored the Nuggets by 14 points. From that point on the rim seemed to shrink for Denver and expand for the Hornets. CP3 moved the rock up and down the court with ease, racking up 19 assists. He was also a pest around the rim scooping up 9 boards, and just to rub it in, he dropped 30 points on the Nuggets; a far cry from the onslaught Denver brought to New Orleans in the playoffs last season when the Nuggets squashed the Hornets by 58. Emotion and strategy conquered the Nuggets as they fell in New Orleans 98-92.
On Sunday, December 20th, needing a pick-me-up after the New Orleans lashing, the Nuggets landed in Memphis hoping to preserve an 8-game winning streak against the Grizzlies, and instead found themselves in a bear fight.
Coming off home victories versus the Dallas Mavs and the King James… I mean Cleveland Cavaliers, the Grizzlies came into the game with confidence and a swagger previously unseen in Memphis. From the jump ball on Denver was in a ditch, as they went into the half trailing 61-43. Melo dug hard to try and overcome his team’s deficit, slinging 41 into the basket. However, the Grizzlies relied heavily on the basics: ball movement, rebounding and time management. The Nuggets played so poorly they allowed the ancient Zach Randolph to be recognized as relevant again, as he dropped 32 points and nabbed 24 rebounds. That was 10 more than the Nuggets’ leading rebounder Chris Anderson, who finshed with 14 boards. Denver made a 4th quarter run just to keep things interesting, but came up shy in Memphis as they drop their second game in a row 102-96.
Lack of depth and size are glaring issues now for the Nuggets, so what can be done about it? Denver cannot depend on rookie Ty Lawson to lead right now… it’s just too soon. They also cannot rely on their ‘big’ men being healthy all season. Losing in each of the five games where one of the Nuggets’ starters did not play is a truly disturbing trend. Denver must assemble some sort of depth if they hope to compete for the conference, let alone the title this season.
Denver has a two day rest before a one night stand at home against the astonishingly hot Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday, then the Nuggets head out to Portland to tangle with the Blazers on Friday night.
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