Fired Up J.R. Smith & Nuggets Bury Heat 123-107

The fired up Nuggets, still angry about choking in the loss to the Hawks at home two nights ago, came out of the tunnel charged up to show the ESPN viewers and the home crowd that they are a force to be reckoned with and they proceded to do just that. J.R. Smith exploded with a career performance that is as close as you can get to a perfect game for a guard. It was impossible for the Heat to slow down, let alone stop the offensive juggernaut of the Nuggets, who were .541 from the field and 9/17 for .529 from 3-point land, on the strength of J.R. Smith's 7/9 3-point land shooting.

And the Nuggets clearly got some heads up on how to close a game when you have a double digit lead in the 4th quarter. Miami was behind just 91-102 at the end of 3 quarters and when you have as little defense as the Nuggets do, and when Marcus Camby has been ejected and Evans is sick, that is not much of a lead. But the Nuggets were in no mood to let this one get away, and they properly closed out the Heat. They had a shot clock violation at one point that I thought was a good thing, because it shows they were chewing clock.

Smith is now the real deal 3-point threat that the Nuggets badly needed. Whether he will be a clutch go-to guy to take the heat off Melo in tight 4th quarters still remains to be seen. Whether Smith can also assume this role will probably determine how far the Nuggets can go in the playoffs. See this thread for more on this subject:
http://www.justbball.com/forums/showthread.php?t=63040

Late in the 1st quarter, Melo yelled at an official because a loose ball that was off of Wade was called as off of him. When Melo got a technical foul, Camby got ticked off and knocked off old George Karl's cup of throat lozenges from the scorer's table onto the floor. The refs hit Camby with a double technical and ejected the last defensive presence the Nuggets had left on the roster. So if Denver was going to win, they would have to fire up the scoring engine and step on the gas. So they did. Melo and Smith combined were 24/45 from the field, 8/12 from downtown, and 13/15 from the line, for 69 points. Smith alone was 12/18 from the field, 7/9 from downtown, and 6/6 from the line for 37 points.

Andre Miller brought alot of order back to the offense and generally "ran things" with 20 assists. Najera was 5/6 and he had 5 rebounds and 3 blocks. Kleiza took advantage of his 26 minutes; he was 5/8 from the field and 5/6 from the line for 15 points and he added 4 rebounds and a block.

The Nuggets (11-6) don't have any time to enjoy this win. The next game is tomorrow night against the Dallas Mavericks (13-6) in Dallas, and the Mavs did not play tonight so they will be more rested. Let's hope the Nuggets at least don't get blown out like so many teams do when they play in Texas. Tomorrow we will get another big clue about whether the Nuggets have the skill, the heart, and the will to use their scoring talents to stay in games. Game time is 6:30 p.m. Mountain Time.

Nuggets Find the Way to Lose to Hawks 98-96

The Nuggets had a tough time coming up with a way to lose to the Atlanta Hawks at home but they came up with one. The Nuggets led most of the game, and led 75-61 at the end of three quarters and 88-74 with 8:41 left. This team needs to learn how to close. With that kind of a lead you can take some chances on defense and go for some steals or, at the very least, increase the defensive pressure. Double team the guy or two who might be able to hit a bunch of 3's. On offense, chew some clock by passing the ball around alot.

Or at the very least, HOLD ON TO THE DAMN BALL WHEN YOU ARE WAY AHEAD. The Hawks had 5 steals in their 4th quarter surge! Jeesh! All the Nuggets had to do to win was take care of the ball. The Nuggets keep playing as if they are running to catch up even when they are well ahead. At least old George Karl finally called a time out with the score at 88-85, just before I was going to start waking up the neighbors by shouting.

Ok, had the Nuggets won, I would have said this is a great team effort type of team which is trying to get everything it can out of all it's players; the Nuggets did end up with six players in double digits. Trouble is, it went too far tonight. The offense got too complicated and confusing, and Melo was kept out of too many plays. Somebody has to be the go-to guy; no team has ever won a Championship without a clear leader.

Melo was called for two straight offensive fouls early in the third quarter, giving him 4 pf's and he was taken out for almost the whole quarter. That alone cost the Nuggets the game. But even when Melo came back, not enough plays were set up for him, the highest scorer of the highest scoring team in the league. Another mistake. That said, Melo was not quite at the top of his game tonight, though this was not the type of dud game he had sometimes as a rookie and in his second year (last year).

The Nuggets, who were a pitiful 16/33 from the line tonight, need to shoot a whole lot more free throws in practice. Had they simply hit their free throws, this game was theirs.

This loss is the kind of loss that costs a team home-court advantage in a key playoff series (against Houston,? Phoenix?). It is a very tough loss for Nuggets fans tonight.

Camby, JR Smith, and Miller all had 10-12 points, as did Boykins and Diawara off the bench. Diawara had two straight threes at the end of the third quarter which should have been the dagger. Reggie Evans had a tough night by being just 2/7 from the line and he had only 5 rebounds. Camby led the rebounding with 15 and he had 8 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocks. Najera was 4/4 from the field but missed every one of his 5 free throws!

Melo was 11/27, 1/2 from downtown, 1/2 from the line, 7 rebounds and just 1 assist. The star of the team just didn't have the ball enough times tonight.

The next game is at home against Dwyane Wade and the Miami Heat. The tip off is at 8:30 pm Mountain time Friday night December 8.

Dec. 2 '06: Air Denver Leaves the Pacers at the Terminal 121-101

Even playing on back to back nights does not slow down these explosive Nuggets, as the Pacers were left in the airport terminal as Air Denver took flight again tonight. The Pacers, on a long road trip, nontheless were in top form in the 1st quarter, particularly Harrington. But then it started to rain. It started to rain 3's. By the end of the 1st quarter, the Nuggets already had five 3-pointers. By halftime, the Nuggets were an incredible 8/12 from 3-point land. They finished the game 11-20 from downtown; J.R. Smith was an incredible 5/7; Boykins was 2/2; Melo was 2/3; and Diawara was 2/5. This 3-point shooting is a dimension which makes a running team especially deadly, so Dallas and San Antonio may have to start to worry now.

Marcus Camby led the rebounding tonight, with 15. The Pacers led rebounding 54-41 but that can only go so far against a Nuggets team that was .477 from the field and had 11 3's. The Nuggets got a free pass defensively tonight because of their offensive explosion and because the Pacers eventually ran out of gas.

The road weary Pacers had 33 personal fouls called against them by some tough refs, the Nuggets had 23.

Boykins off the bench (is this guy real or what) was 5/10, 2/2 from downtown, and 3/4 from the line, for 15 points. He also had 6 assists, and one steal. J.R. Smith was 5/9 and every single one of his scores were 3-pointers (5/7)! He was 4/4 from the line and he had 19 points.

Melo had 38 points in 3 quarters. That is not a misprint. He was pulled late in the 3rd quarter, when the game was all but over. Old George Karl may be starting to get visions of appearing in the Western Conference Championship, and he wants to avoid injuries in garbage time at all costs; good move. The Nuggets led 99-81 at the end of 3, and the entire 4th was garbage time. In 3 quarters, Melo was 14/25, 2/3 from 3-point land, and 8/11 from the line, for 38 points. He also had 4 rebounds and 4 assists.

The Nuggets now enjoy 3 full days off. The next game is not until Wednesday, December 6 at 7 p.m. Mountain Time in Denver, against the Atlanta Hawks.