The Nuggets dropped to 21 losses on the season at Phoenix on Monday night
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Dr. Jumper spent a lot of time on the court Monday night when the Nuggets took on the Suns in Phoenix.
The Nuggets scored 33 points in the 1st Quarter, predominantly by creating isolation situations for their big, strong frontcourt. (Melo grabbed 10, Nene dropped 6.) Denver gave every one of those 1st Quarter points right back in 2nd Quarter defense, allowing the Phoenix Suns to drop 33 of their own.
Phoenix switched to a zone defense in that 2nd Quarter, stifling the lazy Nuggets passing game. Denver settled for jumpers throughout the frame, only managing 11 points. The lopsided 2nd was good for a 44-57 halftime deficit. Kenyon Martin looked absolutely awful, handling the ball carelessly when he wasn’t playing at half-speed. The team combined for 11 turnovers in the first half alone.
The 3rd Quarter saw Denver merging its two personalities into an abomination of sorts.
The Nuggets came out bad and finished worse, finding a little time in between to nearly pace the Suns in points. Denver hit rock-bottom on a 9-point Phoenix run that didn’t stop until the home team was up by 20. From there, the Nuggets’ talent took back a few but the team forgot to play defense on the other end. Denver was still settling for jumpers, but managed to knock down a high percentage to finish the quarter down 67-84.
The 4th Quarter saw more of the same, as the Nuggets turned from a 1-dimensional shooting offense to a 1/2-dimensional three-point shooting offense. The Dr. Jumper Nuggets may actually be better off this way… if they’re going to run a half-assed offense, they might as well run it from beyond the arc.
In the end, the Nuggets dropped to 21 losses on the season with an 85-101 loss.
