Johan Petro has played well filling in for the injured Kenyon Martin, and he had another great defensive game tonight vs New Orleans
- Image by Getty Images via Daylife
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I got here late.  Gotta start paying attention to the game, no time for pregame comments. I will say this… considering the way the Nuggets and Hornet played last week in New Orleans, the Nuggets should win this game by about 15 point with a big run in the third quarter.
1st Quarter
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9:39 The game begins as expected with the Nuggets running isolation to Nene and Carmelo Anthony, and the Hornets pulling up on drives for midrange jumpers.
7:51 Okay, now the Nuggets have decided they like the midrange jumpers too. Denver made two in a row; one by Anthony, one by Johan Petro. (Something about Petro taking jumpers gives me the willies).
5:37 Darren Collision has had 2 bad passes in a row result in turnovers, but there is a deeper problem for the Hornets. The Nuggets are playing at about 75% effort and are leading by 3. If things continue as they are the Nuggets will coast to a double digit victory.  This won’t necessarily be the best thing for the Nuggets; they still need to learn that when they play with full effort few teams can hang with them.
2:50 The lack of effort continues and the deficit remains intact. It should be more though. The Nuggets should be at least 6 points ahead by now, and it’s only a lackadaisical attitude that is to blame.  New Orleans has taken a timeout, but it should be Adrian Dantley that should be yelling at his team.
2:36 Nuggets come out of a timeout and run a good offensive play. Melo drives down the lane, kicks to Aaron Afflalo on the left side corner, fake a three drives to the lane for a high percentage jump shot, 2 points.  2 drives on the same play and both were done with urgency.
2:36-0:00 Nuggets close the quarter on a 10-2 run, due to simply upping their effort. It is amazing how perfectly designed the Nuggets are for the Hornets. The Hornets can’t stop the jump shots unless they give up drives, can’t keep up with Nuggets in transition, and have no answer for Melo.
End Quarter. Nuggets 27-17
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I try not to jump to conclusions too much, but from my point of view this game looks over.  The Nuggets already have the Hornet by the throat, and Denver isn’t even playing their best basketball. This game might become a perfunctory exercise really quickly.
2nd Quarter
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12:00-8:44 Nuggets open the quarter on an 8-4 run. (Yes, I know, not quite a run by standards, but I’m gonna count it because it makes for an 18-6 run spanning the break.) Nuggets are beginning to show signs of recklessness; they aren’t fighting as hard for rebounds and are taking low-percentage shots.  The shots are falling though. The run ends with a New Orleans Timeout.
6:30 All of a sudden the only way anyone can score is with offensive rebounds. Seriously, shooting has dropped like a rock but scoring is holding because both teams are crashing the O-Boards on every shot and putting it right back in. It seems like the first team to play defense will win this standoff.
6:29-2:38 Nuggets go on a 17-4 run with 1 FT coming. New Orleans calls a timeout, but I haven’t typed anything recently so I decided to take advantage.  New Orleans had officially given up at 3:00 left in the 2nd Quarter (mark it down) by leaving J.R. Smith wiiiiidddde open in the right corner for 3 whole seconds before he drained a 3 pointer. This run may continue through the timeout.
2:16 Credit where credit is due, the run ended at 18-4 after Nene’s FT with a solid isolation by Emeka Okafor on Nene. After the post-up on the left side, nice fake to the baseline, jump shot from 10 feet, all on the first play after the timeout. (Note: Nuggets follow the play with a backdoor pass to driving Anderson for 2 that was poorly defended, but hey… it’s not like they haven’t already given up.)
End Quarter. Nuggets 62-37
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What can you say? The Nuggets have the best team ever created to beat this New Orleans team, and they are showing it by dominating with subpar effort (though they have picked it up a bit since those first few minutes of laziness). You would expect New Orleans to show a little fight, given their playoff situation (or lack thereof).  I guess losing by 58 in the ’09 playoffs at home has long-term effects. Who knew?
3rd Quarter
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8:43 The Nuggets have moved into “Maintain the Deficit†mode. They are making sure to take at least 14 second off the clock before most shots, and are playing tenacious but cautious defense. (Between you me this is the effort of defense they should play all the time.) The Hornets, predictably, have stepped up the effort out of halftime, but still look inferior to a Nuggets team that is playing more patient and decisive than lazy this half.
5:41 New Orleans, with slow and steady play, has clawed back to 20 points down. It might be time for a timeout to talk about the focus. New Orleans has decided the only option is to move the ball into the paint (entirely different from every other team’s desperation game plan) which is exactly what they should do. I hope Dantley sees what I see and revs up Nene, Petro and Birdman.
5:01 New Orleans scores on a low post pass to duck again and Dantley calls a timeout with the Nuggets up by 17. It is my opinion that Dantley should be given a shot as a head coach somewhere is the league in the next two years. He has earned it.
3:32 With New Orleans threatening to climb back in, the Nuggets grab three offensive boards. The sequence ends with a Nene going to the charity stripe for 2 shots. Note: all three misses were by JR Smith.
0:31 The Nuggets have committed 3 turnovers in a row and the lead has been cut to 16. New Orleans has begun swatting at every ball. The Nuggets should move back into the isolation, drive with this defensive strategy, and then wait for the fouls.
End Quarter. Nuggets 77-61
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Pretty bad quarter for the Nuggets in any other game, but the massive 1st half will easily negate a lousy third quarter.  However, it was a high shooting percentage quarter for New Orleans( 9-15); it would be a surprise if they kept it up.
4th Quarter
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9:42 Things are starting to get a little scary. The deficit has been narrowed to 12 and the Hornets look like they think they still have a shot… which apparently they do.
8:16 I just saw a stat flash up on the board: the Nuggets shot 50% in the first half and are shooting 24% in the second… and they’re up by 13. This is how much better they are than New Orleans. If they just focused a little more on offense this game would still be a rout. And Anderson just missed two FT’s.
5:55 I take back everything I said about the Hornets giving up on the game.  New Orleans has brought the Denver lead down to 10 with great defense (though Nene gets two shots) and poor shooting by the Nuggets. This is reminiscent of the Nuggets of old, when there offense would just go flat at 15-minute intervals.
4:20 Thanks God for Melo. He is still a problem for every other team in the league. Two isolations on the right side (Melo’s side), 4 points.
2:52 After a great defensive play by New Orleans to earn a two-on-one, Afflalo comes from behind to steal the ball mid-break for an even defensive play. The Nuggets follow that up with an Iso to Melo on the right side, 2 points. Huge swing, probably the dagger.
1:14 Melo has taken it upon himself to end this basketball game. 10 points since the dreary middle of the quarter to ice the contest. Game Over.
End Game Nuggets 93-80
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The rout was in question for a while, but the Nuggets pulled it out. Melo deserves the vast majority of the credit for stopping the bleeding. He owned the second half of the 4th quarter when the outcome of game was beginning to come back into question.
It turned out to be a defensive game to be sure (isn’t it nice that the Nuggets can win the defensive games now?) but a quick look at the stats shows the two reasons for the rout:
Turnovers: Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Hornets 21-Nuggets 10
Offensive Rebounds:Â Â Â Â Hornets 11-Nuggets 20
That equals 20 extra possessions at 40% shooting, good for around 18 extra points. (Of course some of those possessions would be fouls and the Nuggets had a subpar night from the line at 15-21.) New Orleans simply couldn’t take care of the ball, and the Nuggets on-and-off night was more than enough to deal with a lousy Hornets squad.
The Nuggets have a game against Milwaukee next, which they must win both to even the score and to keep pace with the other contenders. Then comes the final East Coast swing. 5 games in 7 days all on the road. It will be the last, biggest test of the Nuggets before we see if they have a shot at the 1st seed in the Western Conference. They must win 3 of those five to have a shot.
