The Utah Jazz now control the Northwest Division. A Utah victory tomorrow night will drop the Nuggets to #5 in the West
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If not for a Kenyon Martin layup, the Nuggets would have gone the first seven & a half minutes of the 1st Quarter without scoring a single point. That, combined with atrocious, stationary defense, gave the Suns a quick 18-2 lead over the visiting Nuggets.
Denver struggled so mightily through the opening salvo that they had a paltry 5 points at the midway point in the quarter.
Down 15 with 4:22 left in the 1st, Carmelo Anthony nailed a tough 21-foot jumper. JR Smith followed from 18 for 2, 25 for 3 & 26 for 3. Chauncey nailed a 25-footer of his own on the next trip down the court to bring the Nuggets within 8 points at 23-31.
Unfortunately, Denver’s run fell short and the Suns called a quick timeout to right the ship. By the end of the opening quarter, Phoenix had inflated its lead back to 12.
Most of the 2nd Quarter was a back-and-forth slugfest that slowed to a crawl as the referees took over the flow of the game. Neither team was able to gather any major momentum as casual contact became fouls. Phoenix dropped a couple of key threes to stretch their lead.
That lead hovered around 16 points until Phoenix called a timeout with 2:35 left in the half.
Denver came out stout on defense, but started missing jumpers in bunches. The Suns maintained their scoring pace, dropping 11 more to end the half up 70-49.
Even without the Nuggets’ early game struggles, they only shot 38% in the half against 56% for Phoenix. And despite their spat of threes to close the gap in the 1st Quarter, Denver started a dry run from deep that spanned the remainder of the half. That translates to 3 of 10 versus 8 of 12 from beyond the arc and a breezy 21-point Suns lead.
That first half buzzer might as well have signaled the end of the game.
Denver was able to bring the Phoenix lead down to 13 midway through the 3rd Quarter, but the Suns called a timeout and re-established their dominance. An 11-2 Phoenix run coming out of that timeout effectively ended the Denver threat by expanding the lead to 22 points.
TNT must have been delighted to have such a barn-burner as their showcase game this late in the season. No doubt Denver audiences bailed on Altitude early too. The refs slowed the game with whistles to quell the brewing bad blood as the game got physical.
The final score in the Nuggets’ final game of the regular season was an embarrassing 101-123 depantsing.
The loss relegates the Denver Nuggets to a likely 5th seed, as the Utah Jazz control their destiny in the race for the Northwest Division after a win at Golden State. Â Phoenix travels to Salt Lake City tomorrow night to settle the Western Conference seeding with the Jazz. Â Only a Suns victory can save the Nuggets from their late-season decent from 1-seed contenders to the 5-seed and a hellish road to the Finals.
The best Denver can now finish is the 4th playoff slot, a 1st round date with the Jazz, and a temporary home-court advantage. Should Utah beat the Suns tomorrow night, the Nuggets will open the 1st round on the road in Phoenix.
If not for a Kenyon Martin layup, the Nuggets would have gone the first seven & a half minutes of the 1st Quarter without scoring a single point. That, combined with atrocious, stationary defense, gave the Suns a quick 18-2 lead over the visiting Nuggets.
Denver struggled so mightily through the opening salvo that they had a paltry 5 points at the midway point in the quarter.
Down 15 with 4:22 left in the 1st, Carmelo Anthony nailed a tough 21-foot jumper. JR Smith followed from 18 for 2, 25 for 3 & 26 for 3. Chauncey nailed a 25-footer of his own on the next trip down the court to bring the Nuggets within 8 points at 23-31.
Unfortunately, Denver’s run fell short and the Suns called a quick timeout to right the ship. By the end of the opening quarter, Phoenix had inflated its lead back to 12.
Most of the 2nd Quarter was a back-and-forth slugfest that slowed to a crawl as the referees took over the flow of the game. Neither team was able to gather any major momentum as casual contact became fouls. Phoenix dropped a couple of key threes to stretch their lead.
That lead hovered around 16 points until Phoenix called a timeout with 2:35 left in the half.
Denver came out stout on defense, but started missing jumpers in bunches. The Suns maintained their scoring pace, dropping 11 more to end the half up 70-49.
Even without the Nuggets’ early game struggles, they only shot 38% in the half against 56% for Phoenix. And despite their spat of threes to close the gap in the 1st Quarter, Denver started a dry run from deep that spanned the remainder of the half. That translates to 3 of 10 versus 8 of 12 from beyond the arc and a breezy 21-point Suns lead.
That first half buzzer might as well have signaled the end of the game.
Denver was able to bring the Phoenix lead down to 13 midway through the 3rd Quarter, but the Suns called a timeout and re-established their dominance. An 11-2 Phoenix run coming out of that timeout effectively ended the Denver threat by expanding the lead to 22 points.
TNT must have been delighted to have such a barn-burner as their showcase game this late in the season. No doubt Denver audiences bailed on Altitude early too. The refs slowed the game with whistles to quell the brewing bad blood as the game got physical.
The final score in the Nuggets’ final game of the regular season was an embarrassing XX-XXX.
The loss relegates them to a likely 5th seed, as the Utah Jazz controls their destiny in the race for the Northwest Division after a win at Golden State. Phoenix travels to Salt Lake City tomorrow night to settle the Western Conference seeding with the Jazz. Only a Suns victory can save the Nuggets from their late-season decent from 1-seed contenders to the 5-seed and a hellish road to the Finals.
The best they can now finish is the 4th playoff slot and a 1st round date with the Jazz and a temporary home-court advantage. Should Utah beat the Suns tomorrow night, the Nuggets will open the 1st round on the road in Phoenix.
