Kenyon Martin has 12 double-doubles since Christmas. His aggressive play at both ends has led the charge.

Carmelo Anthony has taken a more measured approach this year than in seasons past.  He doesn’t have to dominate games for the Nuggets to meat out a win… although it’s always pleasure to see Melo have one of his “can’t touch this” games.

So, with Anthony missing his second straight start, the Nuggets didn’t blink when they trailed the Rockets by 15 points early in Wednesday night’s game.  Instead, Kenyon Martin & Chauncey Billups led a stout defensive effort the rest of the way, and JR Smith dropped 22 points in the Nuggets’ season-high eighth consecutive W.

For a team that has struggled mightily even with Carmelo’s help in Houston (4 wins in their last 16 trips,) this was a huge win.  Denver has had to win without Melo and Chauncey for several stretches this season, and they have done it predominantly with defense.  The starts that Denver’s bench players are getting against elite competition will make the whole unit more effective & more dangerous as the regular season closes in on the playoffs.

It would be surprising to see other top-flight Western Conference teams win consistently without their best player.  Imagine the Lakers without Kobe, the Mavericks without Dirk, or the Suns without Steve Nash.  Each system is dependent upon its star player to go out and get wins.  Of course Denver is much better with a healthy Carmelo Anthony on the court, but George Karl and the Nuggets’ front office have assembled an impressively deep squad.

Even now, as Denver flexes its muscles in contest after contest, you still feel like this dynamic mix of stable veterans and unbridled talent has yet to reach its full potential.  Any improvements from here on out bring the Nuggets closer to that next level they’ll need to win the West in 2010.

Articles similar to this:

• February 22, 2011 -- Bye Bye Melo: a memoir of the Anthony Era in Denver (2)
  Anthony took his shots here, and either through circums...
• October 26, 2010 -- Utah Jazz @ Denver Nuggets 10-27 Preview (0)
  Denver will host the division nemisis Utah Jazz to kick...
• April 26, 2010 -- Leaderless Nuggets on brink of elimination (0)
  Denver’s bigs couldn’t make layups, their bench had...