Memphis Grizzles at Denver Nuggets 4-12-10 recap
Mike Conley had a stand-out game for Memphis, but the Nuggets wore down the Grizzlies for a dominant win
- Image by Getty Images via Daylife
Game Preview & Playoff Race Update
Well one week in Milwaukee and everything seems to have settled in the NBA… but not quite settled.
Realistically the Nuggets probably lost their shot at the number two seed with the home loss against San Antonio since the Mavericks just need one win or one Nuggets loss to clench. Also, since Phoenix visits Utah on Wednesday, one of them is out if the Nuggets win tonight. Now the game on Tuesday in Phoenix will be huge one way or another, but the importance can be lessened with a win tonight.
Now let me make this perfectly clear, if the Nuggets are to do anything in the playoffs they must beat Utah. That is imperative. Utah is a team that will crush the Nuggets in the first round if game one is in Utah, and Phoenix stands a good chance of beating the Nuggets at home or on the road. If Phoenix beats the Nuggets for the third spot, but the Nuggets host Utah, Denver probably rolls through the first round.
Granted, they’d have to play LA in the second round, but there are benefits to playing the Lakers earlier. (see: Chauncey Billups – legs) If the Nuggets head to Phoenix in the Conference Final, they will deal with that then. I just don’t see them anywhere near the Final if they visit Utah or have to play Phoenix and LA in succession.
1st Quarter
8:58 Gotta hand it to Memphis… I always like their game plans. Drive the lane, drive the lane, drive the lane.
Sure, such a strategy would never work against San Antonio (who they’ll have to beat at some future point to win their division), but it sure generates points and fouls against defense that like to spread out. The Nuggets are doing the same on offense, but more because Memphis looks disorganized and apathetic. Thus, Chauncey Billups is seeing a lot of open lanes.
6:40 So Kenyon Martin makes a nice block and sends the ball into the Memphis bench area. As the fan behind the Grizzlies bench passes the ball back to Kenyon, Memphis coach Lionel Hollins stands up and bats the ball away. Billups complains and is dealt a technical. Tell me how that makes any kind of sense.
2:57 The Grizzlies have taken the lead by a point. They are taking absolutely ridiculous shots and getting them to fall. The Nuggets are slacking on the boards.
End Quarter Nuggets 32-31
The Grizzlies are getting a considerable amount of bad shots to fall along with shots after Nugget fouls.
Take away those, and the Nuggets seem to have a stranglehold on this game. Nene and Carmelo Anthony are dominating against some pretty good bigs in Zach Randolph and Rudy Gay. Also, as I look down the box score I notice 3 Grizzlies starters with 2 Personal Fouls and their backup center Hamed Haddadi with 3.
2nd Quarter
8:07 Johan Petro hit the floor hard driving for a loose ball in the offensive end, and stays down. After the commercial he’s seen sitting on the bench in less pain. Good news. Losing Petro at this point in the season would leave the Nuggets a little thin in the front court.
4:47 The Nuggets are doing what they should do, forcing the issue offensively and taking their game to the line. Most importantly, they’re making their foul shots (15-19 FT). If this keeps up (combined 9 PF among 4 starters), the Grizzlies are going to be forced to play with their bench in the fourth quarter.
On the other end, some recklessness with the basketball leads to 2 Carmelo Anthony fast breaks. The Nuggets are showing signs of pulling away.
End Quarter Nuggets 63-57
The following is a list of the Grizzlies who project to be in foul trouble that affects their playing time:
Rudy Gay-3 PF
Zach Randolph-3 PF
Hasheem Thabeet-3 PF
Hamed Haddadi-3 PF
And here’s a list of the Nuggets:
Aaron Afflalo-3 PF
I wouldn’t even say the Nuggets are getting away with being on the good side of bad officiating. Memphis is simply slashing at the basketball recklessly while the Nuggets drive to the basket. The Nuggets are probably a little bit too much for Memphis anyway, but asking bench players to come in and produce against starters is a tall order.
I will say this about the Grizzlies: Mike Conley is a good basketball player. He’s the only player on Memphis who’s been consistently effective. I think if Memphis ever gets him a full team, or if he goes to a team just a little better than Memphis is right now, he could be a top-five point guard in the league.
3rd Quarter
8:13 Very quickly in the quarter, Thabeet commits his fourth foul. out goes Hasheem, in comes Haddadi. Then Haddadi commits his fourth, out goes Haddadi, in comes Darrell Arthur. The wheels are about to come off for Memphis.
4:21 The Nuggets are now systematically removing every viable threat from the game.
Gay has committed his fourth foul and will take a seat on the bench. Melo drew the foul on an isolation drive from the top of the arch. Melo missed a FT but the Nuggets are still pouring on the points at the line (25-30 FT).
1:28 I hate to talk about nothing except the foul situation, but this is what the game has come down to. Haddadi just committed his fifth foul and now the Grizzlies are running out of options in the post.
1:13 Randolph apparently knows what I know and it makes him angry. He’s whistled for his fourth foul hauling in a rebound and curses out the referee. Zach Randolph Ejected
End Period Nuggets 93-74
The Nuggets are taking apart the Grizzlies like an expert chess player takes out an inferior player.
Every move presents a new complication that the later isn’t equipped to deal with. Inevitably, mistakes are made which lead to more and greater mistakes. The Nuggets look to set themselves up with an easy end game.
4th Quarter
12:00 Petro is back in the game. Thank God.
7:44 J.R. Smith and Aarron Afflalo are on fire from the 3 point line and Johan Petro is blocking shots and dominating the boards. This game looks to be over.
0:00 The game ends without incident.
End Game Nuggets 132-101
In fairness, Memphis probably did more to themselves than Denver did, but to the Nuggets’ credit they played patiently and got out of the way while Memphis imploded.
Make no mistake about it; Denver won this game at the foul line (32-39).
Melo and Nene dominated the post, Afflalo recorded his first double-double (22 Points, 13 boards), and J.R. Smith dropped the hammer (6-14 3PT) with regularity. But this game came down to crushing your opponents at the charity stripe. You cannot win when you give your opponent 39 FT’s and the make 32.
This was just what the doctor ordered for the Nuggets’ hopes to win the Northwest Division. Three starters played less than 29:00 minutes (Nene, Billups, Martin), so everyone should have plenty of energy to run with the Suns tomorrow. A win Tuesday night in Phoenix clenches the 3 seed.
