Image by Keith Allison via Flickr

The Denver Nuggets moved to 8-2 in their first ten games post-Melo.   A win on the road Monday night in New Orleans created some padding between the Nuggets and the Hornets in the Western Conference standings.

In a matter of a few weeks, Denver has gone from isolation offense and poor rotation on defense to an assist-heavy scoring machine that transitions off of an active, shifting perimeter D.

Coach George Karl, who landed a fresh contract with the team last week, sounds like a proud papa talking about his New Look Nuggets.

“They have a lot of freedom to create the game on their own, and tonight they were pretty special,” said Karl after his team trumped the Hornets 114-103 in New Orleans.  “We played with a lot of aggressiveness on both sides of the court, and I think that’s what we’re trying to do. It’s not very complicated. It’s pretty simple stuff.”

There you have it: the Nuggets’ new mantra.  Keep it simple, play aggressive defense, attack on offense, and make team chemistry more important than any one player.

Denver did all of those things on their way to a statement win in New Orleans.  After starting off with a series of bad shots and shoddy defense, the Nuggets charged back from an 11-2 deficit to grab a two-point lead at the end of the first quarter.

The Nuggets never looked back.

Karl called an early timeout after the Hornets jumped ahead in the first four minutes of the game.  After that Denver was a different team.  They shut down New Orleans for a full minute of game time that featured a powerful block by defensive leader Kenyon Martin.  From there the Nuggets’ high-powered offense got to work.

Wilson Chandler and Nene combined for Denver’s next 12 points before Chris Andersen tied the game at 15 with two free throws, drawing a New Orleans timeout.  Raymond Felton dropped two three-pointers on consecutive attempts to close the quarter, and the Nuggets never trailed again.

In fact, towards the end of the third quarter Denver pulled ahead by 23 before sitting their big starters and leaving cleanup to a trio of guards.  Ty Lawson, JR Smith and Ray Felton were the only Nuggets to score in the fourth quarter, pacing the Hornets with no less than an 11-point lead for the final 2:30 of the game.

Lawson and Felton, Denver’s thunder and lightening point guards, nailed back-to-back threes in the final minute to squash New Orleans’ comeback attempt.

Three Nuggets scored 20+ points, led by Lawson (23) and followed closely by Felton (22) and Chandler (21).  This new Democratic scoring approach has replaced the former ‘All Melo All the Time’ Denver offense, and was facilitated on this night by 22 assists between Lawson and Felton.  The Hornets got just 22 assists as a team.

Denver drained 17 threes two nights after knocking down 18 versus Detroit.  The Nuggets scored on more than half of their field goal attempts in both games, and shot a ridiculous 59% from beyond the arc against the Hornets.  Those numbers are a testament to great ball distribution leading to open shots and dunks.

More amazing still, the Nuggets are doing all of this without two starters – Danilo Gallinari and Arron Afflalo.  Both players should return in the next week, meaning the best is yet to come for the Denver Nuggets.

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Image by Getty Images via @daylife

The Denver Nuggets defense did not allow the Boston Celtics to score in the final six minutes of the game.

The Nuggets’ 25^th-worst D held for six solid minutes against the Eastern Conference Champs.  Better yet, a Denver squad that led the league in personal fouls committed none in the final three minutes.

And what of the league-leading Nuggets offense… sans Melo?

Denver slashed, dashed, worked and treyed their way to victory with a fourth quarter explosion.  The boys in powder blue were athletic and aggressive, and their closing 16-0 run sealed a big 89-75 victory over the second-best team in the NBA.

New York transplant Wilson Chandler scored 16 points and the unstoppable JR Smith dropped 12, the two effectively filling in the Melo-hole in the lineup.  JR & Wilson combined for three key treys in the decisive fourth quarter.  That salvo of bombs fell just after TNT announcers declared that the Nuggets had no answer for a tough defense late in games without Carmelo Anthony to work one-on-one.

It was a telling mischaracterization of a team that had already proven two nights ago versus Memphis that it had the depth and speed to withstand the loss of a superstar.   Denver is playing a group game now without Melo to stop the ball on a quarter of their possessions.

The change certainly came out of necessity, but it has also been effective.  As if a blockage was cleared from a precision machine.

George Karl’s machine, in fact, which featured a component missing since this time last season when Kenyon Martin busted his left knee.  K-Mart’s season-ending injury came just before Coach Karl withdrew from the team to battle cancer.  The Nuggets struggled to a painful first-round playoff loss, and Karl watched as Utah mastermind Jerry Sloan overpowered Denver’s replacement coaching staff.

So it was fitting that Karl trusted Martin to attack the NBA’s best defense, and that Kenyon responded by scoring a game-high 18 points.  Martin missed the first third of this 2010-2011 Season, and he has been ineffective in his return.  Versus the Celtics, the sleeping giant awoke with 10 big rebounds, tough defense and a swagger that was missing from this Denver team for almost a year.

Karl’s Nuggets played fast, team offense combined with aggressive team defense.  They worked together in a vision of what veteran coaches ask for from their teams.

There were no distractions, and the only obstruction was learning to play together.  But Denver rarely wasted possessions, and ended up outworking the Boston grinders.  The Nuggets trusted their instincts, let their scorers create plays, and got double-digit contributions from five different players during a slugfest.

Leading the Nuggets into the fray were sophomore Ty Lawson and former Knick Raymond Felton, who traded styles at point guard throughout the game.  Ty cut deep into the Celtics’ lane and invented scores.  Ray worked Denver in slowly with a more veteran touch.  The two combined for 16 assists and worked together to keep the Nuggets playing an up-tempo game for four quarters.

The depth that the Nuggets acquired in the Anthony trade allowed them to overmatch the Celtics, who had to call up Development League center Chris Johnson to fill out their depleted lineup.  A trade-deadline deal sent veteran Boston big-man Kendrick Perkins and reserve guard Nate Robinson to the Oklahoma City Thunder earlier Thursday.

Meanwhile, Danilo Gallinari joined Felton and Chandler in playing their first game as Nuggets.  Gallinari drove for a powerful, athletic early dunk that set a tone for the Nuggets.  Then he filled in with 4 rebounds, 3 blocks and 2 steals.  Felton led all players in plus/minus with a +15.  Chandler went 3-4 from deep, burying the lead-changing three that started Denver’s 16-point finish.

In a matchup of two trade-worn teams, Denver showed that their workmanlike win over Memphis was no fluke.  The New Look Nuggets downed the original Big Three of Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett with the same great effort and a lot more depth.  Denver turned a close game into a runaway win with drive and style.

This is the Nuggets’ third consecutive win after going 3-7 in their previous ten games.  They are tied for fifth in the Western Conference with New Orleans, who has the tiebreaker over Denver.

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The Denver Nuggets slipped into the 4^th seed in the NBA Playoffs with a Utah Jazz loss on Wednesday night.  The same Suns that brutally knocked Denver out of contention for the 3^rd seed on Tuesday night roughed up the Jazz by a similar margin in Salt Lake City.

Now the Nuggets will enjoy home-court advantage for at least this first round, and their middle seeding could easily lead to a 2^nd Round matchup with the LA Lakers.

Denver dominated the season series versus Utah.

In fact, that’s the only reason the Nuggets have home-court in the 1^st Round.  Both teams finished with a 53-29 regular season record.  However, Denver’s key January win in Utah gave them the tiebreaker for the Northwest Division title and the 4^th-best record in the Western Conference.

Utah escaped with a narrow victory in the teams’ final regular season matchup, as Denver played without Carmelo Anthony & Chauncey Billups.

Here’s how the season series played out between the Jazz & Nuggets

Wednesday, October 8^th @ Denver

Denver Wins 114-105

Saturday, January 2^nd @ Utah

Denver Wins 105-95

Sunday, January 17^th @ Denver

Denver Wins 119-112

Saturday, February 6^th @ Utah

Utah Wins 116-106

————————————-

As dominant as the Nuggets were throughout the regular season series, the Jazz improved mightily in the final month of the season.  Carlos Boozer came on strong after struggling for Utah since late last season, and the Jazz bench began contributing in a real way for the first time in years.

The Nuggets, meanwhile, slid into their 4^th seed with home & away losses to the Spurs & Sun respectively to close out their regular season schedule.  Denver did blow out the Memphis Grizzlies between those two tough losses.  But even after a 4-game winning streak that included a road win in Oklahoma City and a home win versus the Kobe-less LA Lakers, Denver has looked vulnerable going into the playoffs.

Nuggets Keys to the Series

Kenyon Martin returned to the team after undergoing rich blood platelet treatment on his injured knee.  K-Mart opted not to have season-ending knee surgery, and will be the key to Denver’s NBA Title hopes.  Kenyon was averaging over 9 rebounds per game before his injury, and his defensive presence stifled opponents’ low-post threats on most nights.

Martin is also the key to Denver Center Nene Hilario’s game, as Kenyon brings a certain snarl to the paint that Nene lacks.  Nene has great talent for a big man, and his speedy spinning post move is unstoppable without a helper defender rotating in.  The combination of Nene, Martin & Carmelo Anthony down low opens up the Nuggets’ entire offense as it contracts defenses down towards the paint.

If Denver can find its mid-season groove in this series, it will start down low.

However, the Nuggets will need its bench to contribute as heavily as they did during the season series versus the Jazz.  Rookie reserve Point Guard Ty Lawson was especially dangerous in regular season Games 2 & 4, scoring 23 & 25 points in those games.  Lawson is one of the fastest guards in the league, and could be a game-changer against Utah.

Finally, JR Smith will need to be contributing his athletic defense and timely 3’s for Denver to move forward.  Smith is a rare talent, but has had trouble with consistency and discipline.  JR was huge, though, in last year’s run to the Western Conference Finals.  Smith outshone Nuggets star Carmelo Anthony in several of those playoff games.

Nuggets vs Jazz Series Notes

Nuggets head coach George Karl will miss this 1^st Round series after undergoing chemotherapy for neck & throat cancer.  His recovery time will determine whether he is capable of making a return to the Denver bench this postseason.

Karl will have a presence on the Denver bench in the form of his son Coby.

The younger Karl was signed by the Nuggets from his D-League team as Denver sought to shore up the depths of its bench.  Coby Karl will not be getting a lot of time, if any, in the playoffs, but he is tall for a Shooting Guard and may be useful as a defensive asset and rebound specialist.

Former University of Wisconsin standout Brian Butch has joined the team for the same reason.

Nuggets vs Jazz 1^st Round Playoff Series Schedule

Game One: Saturday, April 17^th

Utah @ Denver 8:30pm MST

Game Two: Monday, April 19^th

Utah @ Denver 8:30pm MST

Game Three: Friday, April 23^rd

Denver @ Utah 8:30pm MST

Game Four: Sunday, April 25^th

Denver @ Utah 7:30pm MST

Game Five: Wednesday, April 28^th

Utah @ Denver if necessary

Game Six: Friday, April 30^th

Denver @ Utah if necessary

Game Seven: Sunday, May 2^nd

Utah @ Denver if necessary

My Prediction: Nuggets in Five Games

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The Nuggets’ 98-94 edging of the driven Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday displayed the offensive dynamism and (occasional) sharp defensive rotation that Denver has been lacking for most the last two weeks.

After losing five of six games in ten days, the Nuggets had fallen back into the pack of teams chasing the #2 seed in the Western Conference.  They got brutalized in Dallas, losing the season series versus the Mavericks after sweeping them out of the playoffs in ’09.  New York, Orlando & Boston rounded out four ugly road losses in a five-game swing.

Then Denver came home, and as has happened so often in the last two seasons, rediscovered their mojo with some Pepsi Center magic.

This time it came against the Portland Trailblazers.  A contentious first half blew up into a 109-92 victory by a Nuggets team that played looser on offense and tighter on defense over the final 15 minutes.  Denver followed with a similar late-game thumping of the LA Clippers, fighting back from a 21-point first half deficit for an 8-point win.

Now a hard-fought win in Oklahoma City where JR Smith had a defensive breakout and the forgotten Arron Afflalo had his best game in a solid month.  Afflalo was an incredible +17 in a 4-point win.  JR nabbed 4 steals and 2 blocks.

Kevin Durant was incredible a night after getting egregiously fouled on what would have been a game-winning 3-point OT winner at Utah… and then standing dumfounded as time expired with no foul call.  (See: Carmelo Anthony five years ago)

And so Denver is back in a 3-way tie for the 2-seed with Dallas on top and Phoenix below.  (Utah dropped one in Houston to descend to the middle of the playoff field.)

The Nuggets will finish their final week at home versus the Lakers, Spurs & Grizzlies before traveling to Phoenix to take on the Suns.  Depending on how Dallas handles their easier schedule, the Nuggets may be in a one-on-one battle with the Suns right up to their regular season finale.

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First Half Synopsis

The first half, and especially the second quarter, has been brutally frustrating.  The Spurs are ahead or tied in every major statistical category except Free Throw Shooting.

Spurs (55% FG, 44% 3-PT, 10 dimes, 24 boards)

Nuggets (36% FG, 13% 3-PT, 10 dimes, 20 boards)

Kenyon’s on the bench, and the trouble he gives Duncan (5-8 FG, 1-3 FT, 11 Points) is no excuse.

The reason we are down is because of the second quarter offense (16 Points).  It’s not even poor shot selection to blame; the Nuggets are getting tons of open looks.  It’s that no one can make an open shot to save their lives.  JR and Chauncey have each missed 2 wide open threes and AA added one of his own.   The only real good news is the high number of fouls on San Antonio.

On the other end the Nuggets haven’t been awful at defense; the Spurs are just making tough shots.

Ginobili (4 points, 4 dimes) is having a decent game for him, and by that I mean he has the referees convinced if he falls down he was fouled. I hate soccer on the basketball court.  Thank God he can’t seem to make a free throw tonight.

To change the game, the Nugget should do nothing except make their shots.  Eventually the Spurs’ hot shooting will cool off, and if you begin making them you’ll catch right back up quickly.

Highlight of the first half, the color guy’s comment at JR’s first touch.  “Sometimes he falls in love with the high degree of difficulty perimeter shots”.  No duh, Sherlock. He’s 3diculous.

3^rd Quarter Plays & Analysis

First Nuggets points: Isolation to Nene. He shoots it from 15 feet on the left side.

Nugget open the 2^nd Half with some great effort on defense.  A great play out of the gate drew a timeout from San Antonio:

Nene hustled crosscourt on the base line to cover Mason on some nice, quick ball movement by the Spurs.  Nene locked him down with too little time left for another play.  When the Spurs went to plan B with Jefferson, Melo stole the ball, fastbreak, Melo Assist, Nene 2 points.  Good hustle.

7:55-7:51 Time that elapsed between two Hill fouls on Billups.

No sooner do I compliment the Nuggets’ defense than suddenly the defense disappears…

Nne runs out to the point to harass a Guard 5 feet beyond the line: 3 points.  No one blocks out on a fast break rebound: 2 points. No one comes out to guard McDyess  from dead center 18 feet: 2 points.

Chauncey finally makes the first 3 by a Nuggets guard tonight, they are now a paltry 1-10 from beyond the arch.  (Melo is 2-3.)

It’s apparent that Nene is the only player who can score for the Nuggets tonight.   He’s the only one who can make a free throw or a jump shot.

JR just missed an uncontested layup.

Ginobili gets a phantom foul call on JR.  Manu must have a picture of David Stern in a compromised situation or something. He gets more bad calls for him than anyone in the NBA.  Bear in mind I don’t mean that he gets favorable calls, which every star gets. I mean bad calls. Like the ref is $40,000 in debt to the mob and they have to send Ginobili to the line 20 times to cover the Over.

End Quarter.

The Nuggets have shot 36% from the floor through three quarters.  They aren’t out of the game yet, but they have to find a way to make a basket.  San Antonio is beginning to crowd the line to force the long shot since no one, save Nene, can hit a jumper with consistency.

Karl just said “We have no rhythm at both ends of the court. We play good defense and then don’t play good offense.”  He couldn’t be more right, though he said it like a guy who’s given up.  Sounded way too casual.

4^th Quarter Opening Minutes

Quarter opens with more of the same; Nuggets can’t hit a shot, Spurs can’t miss.

Blair just commits his Fourth foul… while playing offense.  It’s time to begin driving the lane.

There are now 8 minutes and 45 seconds left, and the game looks pretty much over to me.  The Spurs have complete and entire control of this game (21 point lead).  The Nuggets aren’t driving the lane, they are jump-shooting and doing it poorly.

Meanwhile the Spurs are getting every shot, both jump-shots and drives, and every call.  The Nuggets need a miracle to pull out of this one with a win.

Nuggets just put up a great defensive effort to force a shot clock-beating desperation brick only to see Mason, a Guard, out-rebound Nene for 2 second-chance points.   The Nuggets have given up.

TNT has two camera angles they love to go to: One down on the court behind the front rows in corner, and one on the third deck with a slanted view of the court.  Both suck.  You can’t see the play develop on either angle.  Why do they do this?  Is it because the viewers want to see what it’s like to watch a game from different perspectives?   Stop please, I will buy a ticket if I want to see the game from different bad angles; when I watch from home I want the best seat in the house.

5:00 minutes left, the Spurs are up by 22 and are fiercely arguing an out of bounds call.  This type of poor sportsmanship will not bode well for the Spurs.

4^th Quarter 5 Minute Mark

No reason to do the late game highlights, here’s what you need to know about this game:

Nuggets-38% FG, 3-19 3 PT at five minutes to go.

If they did this against the Nets they’d lose.   Ok maybe not the Nets, but it’d be close.

The point is: if you can’t make the open shots (and trust me, we had plenty of open shots) you can’t win the game.  Shame that it had to happen tonight with the Lakers a true five games up before the break.  That’s almost certainly home field advantage for LA in the playoffs.

So, time for some obligatory optimism. Even with the loss tonight we can’t lose to the Spurs in the season series.  And this loss is the kind that will linger in the mind of the Nuggets. So much so that the Cavs might meet a crazed monster with something to prove in a week.  And hey, if you got to have a game when you can’t make a basket, you might as well have it in a game where you get zero calls on the same night. There you go. That’s some good optimism.

Game Ends.  Spurs 111, Nuggets 92

Would have been nice to have Kenyon, but if you’re hurt you’re hurt. I won’t complain.  We would need a parallel universe to see what would have happened.

I’m guessing Karl picked up on the fact that the Spurs were packing the paint and told his players to start jump shooting. If that’s not the truth, either Karl never noticed the shots weren’t falling, or he has no control of his team.   Which brings me to my final thought:

All your jump shooters are missing. This was not the fault of poor selection, this was not the fault of mismanagement, this was not the fault of transition play, this was not the fault of bad rebounding… even though all those thing had something to do with it.

This is the fault of just a plain old case of the bricks.  Here’s your jump-shooter FG stat line:

Carmelo Anthony 6-17

Aaron Afflalo 3-10

Chauncey Billups 4-16

JR Smith 4-14

Totaling 17-57 or 29.825%

Disgraceful.  At home.  I’ll just let that one speak for itself.

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Chauncey gets the praise/stats but another guard is the real reason we won this crucial road tilt.

First things first.  Congrats to Melo for his first All-Star start.

Most All-Star game fan voting is based on name recognition.  To be that well-known is more of a multiyear accomplishment than a single season breakout.  Earning a start usually requires no less than 3 consecutive seasons of top 5 play at your position, which is tough to do.  Melo deserves all the credit in the world for this honor.  If Anthony’s trend of improving play season-to-season continues, I believe he’ll get a half-dozen or so All-Star starts.

Now that he is an established All-Star starter, I’m hoping that Carmelo will take his “I can score from anywhere, at any time, in any way I want” talent and battle Kevin Durant for the 2010 H.O.R.S.E. title.  The H.O.R.S.E. competition is presented by GIECO and will take place during the upcoming pre-All-Star Game festivities.

(Speaking of which, Elmer’s Glue missed another golden opportunity to sponsor the H.O.R.S.E. competition this year.  Maybe in 2011.)

With that out of the way, on to the game analysis:

Do not be deceived Nuggets fans, we got lucky to be playing a bad a team (whose number we happen to have) and walk out with a win considering the way we played.  The most obvious of the stat lines to confirm this:

Denver:  30-43 from the charity stripe.

That’s 69.8% free throw shooting.  That’s pathetic.  It’s nearly as bad as Shaq.  If we had shot our normal percentage of 78.0% we would have made 34-43 and won the game handily without ever going to OT.

Yes, I know 4 points isn’t a blowout, but consider this:  a four point lead going into the final minute forces up-tempo offense from the team that’s behind.  Trying to score quickly leads to poor shot selection, reckless ball handling, and desperate rebound attempts.

Recklessness in turn lead to turnovers and big open areas of the court with few defenders.  A four point lead with a minute left more times than not will develop into a 6-8 point lead 30 seconds later.  With the ensuing foul shots, that’s an 8-12 point lead by the endgame.  Last time I checked, that is a solid win.  This is how close tight basketball games really are.  They come down to a point here and a point there at meaningless moments of the game.  Making free throws will crush a team come endgame.  Missing them is masochism.

Billups tied a career high for points in this game, but his stat line is misleading:

Chauncey Billups: 11-19 FG, 6-9 3-Pt, 9-11 FT, 37 Points

Don’t get me wrong, this is a fine game for an older guard.  And he certainly dominated the overtime period:

3-4 FG, 2-3 3-Pt, 2-2 FT, 10 Points in OT

But now look at his stats for regulation:

8-16 FG, 4-6 3-Pt, 7-9 FT, 27 Points in Reg (2 missed FT?, Et tu Billups?)

That’s a good game for Chauncey, but it isn’t a dominating effort.  What you can’t see in the stats is that his three misses from beyond the 3-point line were terrible shot selections. Once he was under duress, another he was five feet behind the line, and the last he was not in one of his shooting spots.  (After 5-6 games of watching Chauncey, you can see he is clearly better from the top of the arch and the 45 degree marks than anywhere else).

Also, everything Chauncey earned us in points he gave back in defense.  Billups, Afflalo, and Lawson were all useless against both Monta Ellis (39 Points) and Stephen Curry (15 Points).  Combine that with Nene’s inability to stop Cory Maggette, and you get the game we got.  I give credit to Chauncey for dominating OT and winning the game, but OT is far too risky a proposition against a high-octane team like Golden State.  But then, we won didn’t we?  And how, you might ask?

We won this game for two clear reasons; Golden State decided Melo wouldn’t see the light of day regardless of anyone else’s scoring.  (Carmelo still had 23 because, even being constantly double-teamed, Melo can score on anyone in any way at anytime.)  Golden State’s game plan turned up in the stats, as our other three scorers each had above-average games:  Chauncey 37; Nene 19; JR 14.

(By the way, I suspect this will be the new defensive strategy for most teams.   It is obvious that, after two Player of the Month awards, taking your chances with Melo is unwise.)

The other reason for this road W is the great game that JR “Threediculous” Smith played.

I know the stats don’t do him justice:  6-15 FG, 2-6 3-Pt., 0-0 FT, 14 Points.  And he certainly didn’t help at all with his D on Ellis, who had a career game.  But on a night when no one else could stop the big three scorers for Golden State, he removed Curry from the game.  Curry scored exactly 2 points on JR versus 13 against all other defenders.  What’s more, for such an average night from our 6^th man, Smith still finished +7 in the +/-.  Chauncey, for all his scoring, finished only +5 overall, and all of that +5 came in OT.  In the 33:00 minutes Chauncey was on the floor in regulation, he played to a stand-still with Golden State.

JR has become an excellent defender this year.  His play away from the basketball on defense compared to last year is day and night.  His man-to-man against fast guards has gotten both smarter and more aggressive, while he forces taller guards to alter their shots with greatly improved (and imposing) positioning to go with some ornery hand-waving that exhibits the typical JR gusto.   He doesn’t get the credit he deserves for this improvement.  Chauncey’s OT heroics won the game last Thursday night, but JR’s defense in regulation got Chauncey his chance in OT.

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The Good News:
Last Wednesday, December 23rd, the Nuggets were without Chauncey Billups (groin) so rookie Lawson and the rediculous Smith were handed the keys and let loose in the Pepsi Center. Who knew that night would result in a bench domination over ATL’s finest. Melo quietly filled the basket with 24 points, and the newly nabbed Tar Heel, Ty Lawson, dropped 16. But the lights and the night belonged to the one J.R. Smith, who went batty on the Hawks, seemingly lapping defenders around the court to find space with the rock. Teammates, feeling the heat coming off J.R.’s fingers gave up some good looks out of respect to the hot handed Smith who finshished the Hawks and the game with 41 points as Denver dropped the Hawks 124-104.

The Bad News:
On Friday, December 25th, the Nuggets celebrated Christmas in the grand city of Portland; however, Denver would regret ever stepping foot into the Rose Garden Arena. Chauncey returned to the lineup for Denver, contributing 10 points and 5 assists before sitting the second half for precautionary reasons, leaving an injured Billups to watch his team get torched by a motivated Blazer squad. The Blazer Brandon Roy took charge scoring 41 points, supported by ex-Nuggets point guards Steve Blake with 17 and Andre Miller’s 14. Carmelo did his best to recover the Nuggets early lead fumble adding 32 points, and J.R. Smith continued his hot hand with 20, but the lack of defensive consistency from Denver allowed Portland to pull away as Steve Blake dropped 3 from beyond the arch in the final 4 minutes. Denver left Portland in a not so jolly mood, losing 107-96.

More Bad News:
On Sunday, December 27th,  after shaking off the ash left over from Portland, the leagues best home team in Denver would try their hand against the struggling Mavericks. Before stating the outcome, what do you as a fan think would be the outcome if I stated the following statistics for the night: 7 Mavs score in the double digits; Melo scores 16; Mavs Drew Gooden grabs 19 boards (8 more than the leading Nuggets rebounder); Kenyon Martin leads the Nuggets in scoring with 18. I’ll tell you what that sounds like, it sounds like a home town train wreck, and it was. Denver was once again without team leader Chauncey Billups, and once again they never seemed to keep a defensive or offensive rythm. Despite the horrific stats, Denver kept themselves in the game, but the clutch shooting Nowitzki kicked the comeback the ladder aside with a late 4th quarter 3 pointer as the Mavericks out gunned and outmanned the Nuggets 104-96.

Even More Bad News:
And finally, last night, December 28th, the Denver Nuggets found hope to discontinue their recent losing habit, meeting the young and frail Sacramento Kings. The game started as expected by NBA enthusiasts, as the Nuggets bruised the Kings early ending the first quarter ahead by 6. Now was the time for Denver to unleash their frustrations and roll-up the Kings to help put aside the last two defeats, now was the time to show that Denver can bounce back from adversity…dang it! Why couldn’t the Kings just go away? Sacramento came out in the second quarter alive and agile, unwilling to accept defeat as the team compiled 3 pointer after 3 pointer. Andres Nocioni scored his season high with 21 points, hitting 4 from beyond the arch and helped spoil a Denver revival game, as they conquered the Denver Nuggets 106-101.

I understand the ratio of good to bad news is not appealing, but the Nuggets performance as of late has been nothing short of shoddy. How and when will they find a foothold and regain a dominant stance in the West and once again strike fear into opponents who dare to enter the Pepsi Center, home of Melo, Mr. Big Shot and the Brazilian? When will the Nuggets overcome injuries to hold off the opposition? Hopefully some time soon. A few bright lights ahead are Chauncey’s return to full strength on Saturday, the ever increasingly confident Nene and the rise of J.R. Smith as he once again takes us on the ramp of his abilities.

Luckily Denver has a 4 day break before ringing in the New Year and riding the slopes to Utah on Saturday, then heading back over the mountains home to match up with the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday.

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Melo goes to the rack against PHX.

After breaking even during a four game road trip, Denver fans jolted the jet-lagged Nuggets awake over three raucous home games.  The Nuggets faithful were rewarded with an alert, locked-’n-loaded squad fixated on a home court stand.

Melo and the Nuggets played host to three teams in five days at the Pepsi Center, and would not be bested by any opposition.

On Saturday, December 12th Denver hosted the rising Phoenix Suns, who came to burn the Nuggets’ nets.  Instead they froze in the headlights.

After scrambling just to survive the 1st half, Denver found the right juice to fuel their fire and came out rejuvinated in the 2nd half.  Chauncey Billups found his range to help Denver fly out of the gates with a 3rd quarter 18-2 run.  Kenyon Martin was finally able to find a full size “Hello Kitty” bandage to cover his booboo, and he supported his team with 12 points and 9 boards.  Melo did his usual damage to the Suns, cranking out 32 points.  With a strong 2nd half game, Denver was able to eclipse the Suns 105-99.

With a days’ rest, the Nuggets were back on the home floor awaiting the roller-coaster team that is the Oklahoma City Thunder.  No need for me to tease you with this one; at no point  in this game was Denver in any danger of falling to a tender young Thunder squad.

Chris “Birdman” Anderson laid a giant golden egg with his best outing of the year, scoring 15 points and perching above the rim to collect 11 rebounds.  Carmelo Anthony again maintained his average, spotting 31 points for the Nuggets as they blew through the Thunder 102-93.

To conclude the 3-day homestand, Denver locked onto the visiting Houston Rockets Wednesday night.  With no threat of Ming in the paint and little ‘trace’ of McGrady, the Nuggets big men Nene, Martin and Anderson found plenty of space to work around the rim.  While Denver was never really threatened in the game, Houston kept the spread close and managed the occasional tie.  However, the Rockets found no answer for the sharp shooting JR “Earl” Smith (21 points) or the maturing Melo (38 points).

It was refreshing to see Nene attack the rim and create contact in the paint; maybe the confidence he needs to be consistently productive finally came through.

Billups left the game in the 3rd quarter due to a groin injury after scoring 15 points.

Houston was hot, coming into Denver on a three-game winning streak, but the Nuggets prevented a Houston problem, beating the Rockets 111-101.

Sitting at 19-7 and gaining altitude atop the Northwest Division, Denver will head back on the road to visit the New Orleans Hornets on December 18th.  From there, the Nuggets head slightly north to meet the Grizzlies in Memphis on December 20th.

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JR Smith

Call them non-chalant, confident or even composed, but to me the Denver Nuggets are like the kid who doesn’t study for the test until the night before & yet always seems to slide by with a passing grade. I call them procrastinating victors. Over the past three games Denver has been able to slide by with two victories with tumultuous moments. However, the final scores don’t quite tell of the torture fans endured.

The 130-112 victory over Toronto involved 3 hard fought quarters before Carmelo finally broke through the Raptors grip scoring 32 points along with J.R. Smith’s 29 points and Chauncy’s 10 assists. Denver stumbled into a Staples Center brawl ending with a 99-106 loss to the Clippers where the Nuggets bench seemed all but enthused to be in L.A. Anthony helped himself to 37 points with no support. Saturday night Denver Oleyed! a charging Chicago Bulls team. Each side had to overcome a 17 point deficit, it just so happens Denver overcame and preserved their comeback. Chauncy and Smith combined for 6 of 14 from beyond the arch, and Melo added 30 points  to lead Denver to a 112-93 win over Chicago.

With all the effort Denver has been exerting in the last few games, fans can only hope this squad can re-energize and re-group in time to close out November with 4 more victories (3 of 4 at home). Another concern that I revert to in an earlier article is the off and on button in J.R. Smith. Like we all know, when he’s on, he’s on. When he’s off, he’s, well… you get the point. With shots from 6 feet beyond the arch, 360 degree spinning layups and celebrations because he happened to make a few shots that day, J.R. is a charade who keeps us (the fans) gripping our seats & spilling our beverages with every act. And I wouldn’t have it any other way. With all these close calls as of late, Denver fans have also been treated to a more limber, more enthusiastic side of Coach George Karl.

Denver fans, rejoice in this moment, for we now have a team with all the components to not only make a playoff run, but a team of assortments to tickle everyone’s senses. Melo, Mr. Big Shot, The Birdman, The Brazilian & coming soon, Double A (Aarron Afflalo), Young Law (Ty Lawson) &  Jerdiculous or The Earl (J.R. Smith). With Denver sitting atop the Northwest at 9-4, I give a tip of the hat to our characters of the court.

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Chancey and the Nuggets on the bench

Flying off to a great start, the Nuggets were bound to hit a wall with 3 back to back games in November. However, with a 3 day break on the horizon the Nuggets could rebound and regain their momentum in the west with a hard fought victory over the rival Lakers, well, maybe hard fought was not on the Nuggets mind. Friday night,  Denver played host to the then 7-2 Lakers, and within minutes fans could tell Denver would not play the victim at home.

With the leading role, Melo took charge with 25 points, 3 steals & went 3 for 3 from the line. While he did not match his high average of over 30 points in the game, Carmelo did perform marvelously as a leader on the court. The Denver defense deserves their applause as well, holding L.A. to an unheard of 8 points in the 3rd quarter, and 23 points in the 2nd half. Chauncey got his, as he always does, with 8 assists, making up for the lack of scoring on the night (6 points). Mr. Smith put on a show of his own with 20 points (4 of 10 from 3-point line). The 6 game suspension does not seem to be affecting  J.R. Smith to this point, however, Nuggets fans know when he’s off, he is off, and right now all we can do is hold our breath and hope he is on. Another honorable mention must go to Arron Afflalo, his 10 points were helpful, but the work he put in defensively kept the Lakers frustrated & off the mark most of the game.

Since game 1 of the season it has been apparent Melo has matured and openly accepted a leadership role on this team. Perhaps the Summer league had some affect on this, perhaps he feels the time may be now to finally achieve the goal of an NBA championship, whatever the reason, Carmelo Anthony seems comfortable leading the team and the fans seem comfortable following his lead. With a confident, reliable co-captain on the court, it seems Chauncey too is content dishing the rock and schooling the rook (Lawson) while Melo burns the net.

Galloping into a 3 day break taking 5 of the last 8 games, and securing a long awaited ‘revenge’ game against Kobe & the Lakers (105-79), the Nuggets can prep to close out November strong against the unthreatening Toronto Raptors, at the L.A. Clippers & back home against Rose & the Bulls. At 7-3, Denver sits above Portland at the top of the  Northwest Division.

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