With a healthy and energized George Karl at the helm, the Nuggets may not be far off from realizing their potential as an elite Western Conference contender.
Six Nuggets (Anthony, Afflalo, Billups, Nene, Harrington & Lawson) scored double-digit points in this 110-88 rote dismantling of the Jazz.
Denver will host the division nemisis Utah Jazz to kick off what could be Melo’s last year, month or week with the club… depending on which trade rumors you believe.
The Denver Nuggets will open next season at home versus the Jazz and finish in Utah against that same division nemesis. With the release of the Nuggets’ 2010-2011 schedule on Tuesday, we see a clear focus on Northwest Division games when it counts.
Bear in mind, of course, that this would not have happened in 2009. The ot-nine Nuggets would have simply overwhelmed the Jazz with the same barrage of offensive firepower that defeated New Orleans & Dallas. But without the commanding influence of one George Matthew Karl manually balancing Denver’s speeding keel, they routinely fell out of rhythm on both ends of the court.
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.
Denver’s bigs couldn’t make layups, their bench had no spark, and their defense made lazy rotations versus the Jazz for the third straight game. Not coincidentally, after going up 1-0 to start this opening round playoff series, the Nuggets have lost the last 3 games.
The Nuggets could have won this game (and this series) with consistent effort. When they played hard at both ends they were clearly the beater team. But Utah simply out worked them. Melo was the only one who played hard all the way through (et to Billups?) and he missed time with foul trouble again.
Denver had a unique opportunity to crush the Jazz in Game 2, and they let it slip away. Utah is beset by injuries, losing Andrei Kirilenko & Mehmet Okur over the last few weeks. Granted, Deron Williams & Carlos Boozer had outstanding games in Denver, but the Nuggets’ bench was absolutely useless on Monday night. If Denver’s B-Team can’t beat Utah’s C-Team, the Nuggets don’t deserve to move on in these playoffs.
The cost of this whole thing is that now the Nuggets must win in Utah. It’s among the toughest places to play in the league. It’s tiny and steep and loud. It feels like the crowd is right on top of you. Literally, I think they sell seats in harnesses that hang from the roof of the arena. I think the Nuggets will still win the series though. The injuries for the Jazz are a little too much, and it’s doubtful they can consistently produce the best half in their franchise history every game to win by 3.
