With Coach Karl sidelined, the Nuggets got some creative on-court coaching from Chauncey and Melo
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The Golden State Warriors decided to key in on defending the paint Thursday night with the Denver Nuggets in town. That was just fine with Denver’s Chauncey Billups.
Chauncey drained 7 of 8 three-point field goals, part of a 37-point evening, and outplayed his talented young counterpart, Warriors Point Guard Stephen Curry.
On a night when the only defense was a good offense, Billups took it upon himself to propel the Nuggets’ high-powered attack. Chauncey catalyzed his team in the opening seconds by driving the lane hard on Golden State’s lightly-regarded interior defense for a six-foot running jumper. That drive set the tone for the game, and the Warriors’ defense played the rest of the game on their heals.
The Nuggets actually played some good D while Kenyon Martin was on the court. Unfortunately, Kenyon exited the game late in the second quarter with a left knee contusion, and his +14 ± left with him. The Nuggets’ 61-44 lead dwindled to 65-56 at the half.
With Head Coach George Karl missing his first game since undergoing what will be several weeks of treatment on cancerous growths in his neck & throat, it was up to the players on the court to fill his sizeable shoes. While Chauncey took it upon himself to fuel the offense with timely scores and a general’s bravado, Carmelo Anthony played the part of Referee Lobbyist.
None of Karl’s assistants have enough clout with NBA officials to argue calls, and that fact became increasingly apparent through a 1st Quarter where the Nuggets couldn’t buy a favorable whistle. Melo stumbled or fell with every contact, embellishing each bump or nudge, and utilized his star power to argue every foul call until the officiating evened out in the 4th Quarter.
While it shouldn’t be necessary for a team missing its coach to find creative ways to get fair treatment from league officials, those are the breaks in the modern NBA. Carmelo & Chauncey knew their roles with Karl sidelined, and they played them to perfection.
Anthony finally returned to his role as an offensive dynamo in the 3rd Quarter, scoring 11 of his 27 points. That stretch kept the Nuggets a pace ahead of the Warriors, and JR “Threediculous†Smith sealed the deal with a series of dagger threes throughout the second half. Every time Golden State got close, JR Swish was there to knock them back.
I have always contended that Smith is a game-changer, and key to any Championship run. His play tonight showed that in spades.
JR missed a number of first-half threes badly… really, really badly. He missed long, he missed high, he missed short and to the left. Any miss you can think of, JR shot it.
But with 4:45 left in the 3rd Quarter and Golden State within nine of the Nuggets, Smith reared back and knocked down a beautiful 23-foot jumper. Not satisfied, and clearly feeling the heat, JR made a great athletic steal of the Warriors’ inbound, forfeited a 2 on 1 break, stopped 27 feet away from the basket, and knocked down another three. (The first was a swish… the second may not have touched the net long enough to make a sound.) Smith would go on to knock down seven threes on the night for 21 of his 25 points.
In the endgame, the Nuggets steamrolled Golden State. Denver outscored the Warriors in every quarter, even though Golden State played within ten points for much of the night. Despite another outstanding offensive performance from the Warriors’ Stephen Curry (30), Denver won this one running away, 127-112.
