Teamwork won the day in Denver. Now the Nuggets need another group effort Friday night in Utah
- Image by Getty Images via Daylife
Down three games to one in the opening round of the 2010 NBA Playoffs, Denver needed a big victory on Wednesday night. More than that, they needed a big outing from absent star Chauncey Billups. The Nuggets got both in Game 5 at Pepsi Center, part of their 116-102 win.
Carmelo Anthony & Chauncey Billups both came up big in this elimination game.
Where Melo had carried the team through one win and three tough losses, Billups stepped in and shouldered his share of the load at long last. Chauncey was good for 21 points and 4 assists. Carmelo added 26, well below his 34.5 point/game playoff average.
But the Nuggets don’t need Carmelo Anthony to score 35 points a game to win. They need a complete team effort, and Denver finally got that.
The whole Denver bench contributed to this victory, scoring 37 points to 16 from the Utah bench… all by Jazz PF Paul Millsap. JR Smith dropped 17 playing starter minutes (31), and Ty Lawson had another well-rounded game with 2 board, 3 dimes and a pair of steals to go with his 6 points.
Even after starting Center Nene Hilario went down with a tweaked knee in the 2nd Quarter, the Nuggets played strong team basketball to muscle out a series of leads. After giving up 6 & 8 point advantages, Denver dropped the hammer with metered scoring and responsible defense in the latter part of the 4th Quarter.
Nene has underperformed along with Chauncey all series, and may not be the Nuggets’ best option at Center.
In fact, Nene has been a liability on both ends of the court, and both Johan Petro & Chris Andersen were more effective as replacements.
Petro & Andersen combined for 13 rebounds, and Birdman notched 10 points despite a nagging hand injury. Both were more effective defensively, getting out on big Carlos Boozer’s deadly jumper from the top of the key. Carlos has killed the Nuggets with that shot all series, but longer arms coming out of the paint threw off Boozers’ rhythm in the second half.
Nene’s 5.8 rebound/game average was inflated by an 11-board performance in Game 2, but the Nuggets’ only other win in the series came in Game 1 when he played just 14 minutes. (Nene averages 34/game.) It could be that the 1-2 punch of the taller, longer Chris-Johan combo may be a better match on the glass against the Jazz.
Denver has a rough road ahead of them. They are still just one loss away from elimination.
The Nuggets will need to do on Friday night what they have only rarely done in the last decade; win a game in Utah.
The team showed glimpses of its old dominant self in Game 5, and will need to be firing on all cylinders to overcome the imposing Jazz at EnergySolutions Arena in Game 6. Despite all of their trials and tribulations through the last few months, the Nuggets are just one big W away from coming home for a decisive Game 7 on Sunday morning.
Game 6: Denver Nuggets @ Utah Jazz
Friday, April 30th on ESPN & Altitude
