Chauncey holds clinic & the arrival of the Laker-bane
Nuggets school Lakers without Carmelo 126-113. Plays & Analysis plus Post-Game Commentary
- The Nuggets teamed up on the Kobe & the Lakerettes for a huge win
1st Half Plays & Analysis
Kobe’s killing us (23 first half points). Melo’s in warm-ups but not playing. Everyone sucks at free throws. Nobody’s even considered blocking out Gasol. Joey Graham is useless in every way I can think of. Why are we still in the game?
Chauncey’s Three Stroke is big. K-Mart and Birdman threatening double-doubles helps (points-boards each). Lawson’s speed is winning in the transition. But it’s hard to put my finger on why we still look pretty good. Perhaps this team really has turned a corner.
We have been cheating death (or in the case of the Suns, attempting to cheat death) for around 6 games now. But we did it against teams like Charlotte, Houston, a beat up San Antonio, Sacramento.
This is the Lakers. Can we really hope to keep up subpar play and stay in the game to the end? Some things have to change.
Someone need to slow Kobe down. Someone needs to make two free throws in a row. And for God’s sake somebody prevent Gasol from getting any more offensive rebounds.
Some good news… our jump shots from the left side are all falling. That’s Fisher and Farmer’s side of the court. Fisher is a liability on defense. The longer it takes LA to realize this the better. And Farmer seem to be having a bad night. Good. Keep attacking him.
One more thing. Bynum is playing very well, but is a little long in the fouls. Chauncey and Nene have got to get him off the court.
Also, anyone notice Kobe Bryant’s puppet has more personality than Kobe Bryant does?
3rd Quarter Plays & Analysis
NOBODY IS BLOCKING OUT GASOL!!! Fundamentals Nuggets. Here’s a quick hint. When on defense and a shot goes up the closest three players just run to the rim.
Billups has missed two free throws. We are now 7-12 and trailing by 9. 2 to 3 more freebie points would be nice right now.
Andrew Bynum has 4 fouls now. That’s pretty big. We can win the paint now.
Chauncey still has the Three Stroke going and JR is creating a black hole with aggressive lane moves.
Kobe has 4 PF now and heads to the bench. Bad call loose ball foul on K-Mart. Kobe’s angry and probably is right.
Three more points for Chauncey. He’s making them from everywhere…
Dito. From five feet back at the 55 degree mark. Impossible to defend that. If you step forward you leave the drive to the Free throw line for one of the best free throw shooters in the NBA, and there’s no reason to step up since he’s 5 feet back at the 55 degree mark.
Dito from 65 degrees.
JR joins the party from the 45 degree mark. Wide open. Easy money.
Chauncey holds a clinic on jump shooting, leads the Nuggets all the way back. Not terrible defense by LA in the quarter, just an amazing quarter by Chauncey (21 points, 5-6 3pts). Three threes made from 3 or more feet behind the line. He’s been taking lessons from JR Swish.
Beginning 4th Quarter Plays & Analysis
Same plan as last quarter: get Kobe and Bynum on the bench with fouls.
Lawson is faster with the ball than anyone in the NBA.
Birdman playing good defense on Bynum. He didn’t get baited into giving up position, manages a block.
Lawson is doing nicely while Chauncey rests. His speed with control of the basketball is amazing, especially in traffic. The Lakers seem to have decide to go with nothing but iso’s the rest of the way.
7:20. That’s the time left in the game when I realized Odom has done nothing all game (-17, 10 points, 2 TOs). That’s good work by the Nuggets. Odom is a game-changing bench player. It’s almost more important to remove him from the game than Kobe.
Nene is working the lane well in the fourth. Good sign against Bynum. It will send Andrew to the bench with 5 fouls. Nene’s also working well against Gasol.
JR is warming up in the closing minute too. His ball handling has been above average for him. (5 dimes, 2 TOs) It’s creating some space for him on the outside. And we all know what happens when he’s got three feet in front of him to gauge the basket.
4th Quarter 5 Minute Mark Plays & Analysis
WOULD SOMEBODY BLOCK OUT GASOL!!!! I’m looking at you Nene!
Kobe is still a problem.
Nuggets go dribble drive by Chauncey down left slot. Good pass, K-Mart from 4 feet.
Lakers are going for all the money, three pointer under pressure but offensive rebound by… guess who…. Another three try pretty quick. Nuggets are getting lucky. At least this time Nene Blocked out.
Weird play. K-Mart in the corner left wide open. Takes a three try with 12 on the clock. Why do you plan that? Why do you leave K-Mart open. Why does he just take the shot with 12 on the clock? Nothing makes sense on either side of the ball.
Nuggets work JR iso at the top of the arch. Can’t get it to fall. Nifty idea.
Pick and Roll to Gasol puts Nene on the bench for good. But he missed one. Everybody’s making three’s tonight but missing free throws.
Aaron Afflalo is clutch. Absolutely clutch.
Nuggets are rushing when they shouldn’t be and it gives up quick posession.
Stretch Run Plays & Analysis
1:00 left… game over. Smith from 70 degrees. Nuggets by 11. I’m sorry I can’t give better stretch commentary, but the Nuggets own the game now. Smith throws on one more for good measure 20 seconds later.
Postgame Comments
Nuggets jump shooters had their day today: 57% percent from the field. If your jump shooters shoot like that you win regardless of where you are and who you are playing. So this game is a little hard to quantify. The first half was atrocious, and yet the Nuggets were only down by 5. This was partly due to the fact that they shot 55% after 24 minutes. It would seem that the defense finally locked down the Lakers after they got Bynum and Kobe to the bench. The Lakers finished the first half shooting 54% and finished the game at 47% meaning they shot around 41%-42% in the second.
Nene was impressive tonight offensively. He seemed to get faster as the game went on, and his movement in the paint was critical to getting Bynum off the court. If he does what he did tonight on a more regular basis, he will be the second-best center behind Dwight Howard… and the Nugget will win 60 games and a championship one of these seasons.
The Nuggets may have turned a corner. Without Melo, they beat the Lakers in their own house. Better than that, they probably just won the season series with LA for the first time in I don’t care to look up how long. And they did it with a half of basketball that would have lost to the Grizzlies. (Now if we could just beat the Kings on a regular basis.)
One last thought… Ty Lawson was great tonight on the dribble drive and the transition. The last time I remember him playing this good was the last game against the Lakers. So…. Is Ty Lawson Laker-bane?
I didn’t like the pick when we got him, but he has since proven he can hang in the NBA for a while. The pick may have been perfect for us if his skills are just the trick to take down our greatest rival. He’s so small and quick, and the Lakers’ forwards and centers are all too tall to defend him without fouling… a gnome darting amongst the trees.
I know 2 games does not a nemesis make, but you would expect a nemesis to play well in the first two encounters. I will be watching Ty closely in the next game at LA later this month.
