Iverson Arrives But Kings Get Ugly Win Over Nuggets, 101-96

The up and down rollercoaster of the historic pre-Christmas week for Denver came to an ugly end on Friday evening as the Nuggets were left without a single one of the starters they started the season with and lost to the Kings in an ugly game 101-96. Sacramento was .442 from the field and they had an ugly 20 turnovers. Bibby's slump continued. The Kings didn't need much to win.

The Nuggets actually lost the game on the free throw line. They were a very poor 17/31 on free throws. Evans was only 6/13 and Iverson was only 2/6 from the line.

Allen Iverson came in with 3 minutes left in the 1st quarter and played the entire rest of the game. His 10 assists and reluctance to "take over the game" despite the opportunity to do so may be a clue that he neither wants nor expects the burden of winning games by himself for the Nuggets. It was that burden on the Sixers that led to his leaving Philadelphia. The cautious Iverson didn't shift to one of his higher gears, thus leaving the result of the game in the hands of the second team, and they failed to take a winnable game. The home crowd, suffering from a new condition called "Nuggets fever," would have preferred that Iverson had been a total ball hog if this had produced a win, as it probably would have.

Judging from tonight's Nugget's performance, Iverson moved 1,600 miles west only to be, thanks to Mr. Stern and the K-Mart/Camby injuries, temporarily in the same or worse situation he left in Philadelphia, on a team where a win is about as likely as a blizzard that closes the airport for almost two days. Camby was out with a fractured finger he got during his great game against the Wizards. So it was "Iverson and the Benchers against the Kings" tonight in a game that might have been kind of like a strange movie if it hadn't been so ugly.

The Nuggets followed their uptempo playing style and had plenty of opportunities; the ball just would not go in for anyone except Iverson. The Nuggets were literally trying to steal the game while being massively shorthanded. They had 11 steals, though Iverson, one of the all-time greatest pick-pockets, had no steals tonight. Boykins had 4 steals, Reggie Evans 3, and Nene 2.

Although Nene had just 8 points in 30 minutes, he did have 15 rebounds, the 2 steals, and 2 blocks. Reggie Evans played 25 minutes, was 2/4 from the field, but only 6/13 from the line for 10 points, and he had 11 rebounds, 3 steals, and 2 blocks. Evans has been drawing alot of fouls all season, but missing alot of throws. Kleiza in 25 minutes was just 2/10 from the field, 1/5 on 3's, and 2/2 from the line for 7 points, and he had 7 rebounds.

Najera fouled out with about 5 minutes left in the game, and Nene and Diawara were also in foul trouble as the Denver D continued to draw more fouls than praises. Maybe Camby, otherwise known as "Denver's D," can run a clinic to try to teach pressure defending without fouling. Najera (27 minutes) was 3/7, and 0/1 on 3's for 6 points, and he had 5 rebounds.

If games were always won by whoever expends the most calories, the Nuggets would have won this game. Boykins was all over the place, trying to follow up his big Wizards-killing game on Monday with another rabbit out of the hat win tonight. Even Iverson was amazed at the speed and hustle of Boykins, and wagered it might be best not to get too much in his way. Boykins was 8/23 from the field, 2/7 from 3-point land, and 7/8 from the line for 25 points, 4 less than against the Wizards. He had 9 assists, a huge 4 steals, and 3 rebounds.

Coach Karl's policy on DerMarr Johnson is that he wouldn't get playing time unless hell froze over, but since hell did freeze over during the blizzard, Johnson got 21 minutes and was a respectable 5/11 from the field, and 2/7 on 3's, for 12 points. Johnson did NOT play the klutz defense that many of the Nuggets played tonight, he had 2 blocks and zero fouls. Hopefully hell will freeze over a few more times this season.

The rookie Diawara has been very inconsistent all season; he's had some nice games on short minutes, but a few real dogs. This could have been a breakout game but it wasn't to be as he was a nightmare 3/15 from the field, 0/7 on 3's and 0/2 from the line for 6 points, and he had 4 rebounds. What do you expect when a rookie from France gets a high pressure start due to the Knicks/Stern fiasco. Diawara won't always play like this, but it was way too much to ask him to be some miracle 3-point, defensive specialist rookie. The Nuggets will remain almost totally dependent on J.R. Smith for 3-point shooting.

Iverson started with 3 minutes left in the first quarter and started hitting shots right away. His first two shots as a Nugget:

A. Iverson made a 14-foot fade away jumper in the lane
A. Iverson made a 7-foot jumper in the lane. Assist: R. Evans

Iverson hit on two straight 3-pointers and a jumper in the space of 1 minute late in the 3rd quarter keeping the crowd fired up and giving Denver a 71-69 lead. Iverson was 9/15 from the field, 2/3 on 3's, and 2/6 from the line for 22 points, and he added 10 assists.

The Nugget's 4th quarter was weak, with alot of missed shots and some more missed free throws. Abdur-Raheem had two key blocks in the quarter. Nobody, including Iverson, had the touch in the 4th, so it became impossible to win. The Kings coasted to an easy win.

The next game will be Tuesday December 26 in Denver against the Celtics at 7 pm mountain time.

The Quest For The Ring Continues On: Nuggets 117-108

Let me tell you a little bit about my team. It has alot of talent and alot of heart, even more than I thought.

It has a player who is only 5'5" tall who had 7 rebounds and 29 points in tonight's game.

It has a star center who has proven that he is a total leader on and off the court and who had 17 rebounds, 7 blocks, and 25 points.

It has a point guard who shakes off all trouble and achieves whatever is necessary for a win.

It has a coach not afraid of David Stern or Isaiah Thomas or anyone else when he tells everyone why they are wrong.

It has a whole crew of "benchers" who proved they would be starters if the league had more teams, and who played their guts out tonight to get a win almost no one thought they could get.

And it has two very young and extremely talented scoring machines who have been wronged by a system that does not work and that does not make sense. They could only watch as their team, and my team, earned a win through sheer effort and will against one of the hottest teams in the league, a team that was 8-2 in the last 10 games. They will be watching, and waiting, as their team, and my team, seeks to overcome the failure of the league, to defy the predictions that they are history, and to move forward in the quest for the Ring.

My team is a team that the league can slow down, but you can not stop my team. It will rise up and overcome all things. My team is powerful. In time, I believe my team will win the quest for the Ring.

Denver Cruises Over Very Frustrated Knicks 123-100

This is just going to review the game and will not go into the brawl at the very end of this game. I am going to post a topic on the brawl tomorrow because of the importance of any suspensions that are certainly coming to my team.

The Nuggets were firing on all cylinders tonight and the overmatched Knicks tried their guts out to keep up but simply ran into the freight train that the Nugget offense was tonight. There was no way a team that has been damaged by injuries to key players, a series of poor roster moves, and having the wrong coach at the wrong time (Larry Brown, not Isaiah) could possibly keep up with the freight train. The Nuggets are vulnerable only to teams that can take advantage of their low pressure and sometimes klutzy defence, teams that can nail a bunch of 3's, that can run fast breaks off turnovers well, and that can get at least very close to .500 from the field. The Knicks are not such a team until they rebuild and stay healthy.

True, the Knicks did beat the Nuggets in Denver, but it was a fluke: the way the Knicks won that game could best be described as very strange. A 12-point 4th quarter Knick deficit was turned around in less than a quarter and then there had to be a steal and a 3-pointer at the buzzer for the Knicks to win in regulation. Kenyon Martin was out for the first time so the Nuggets had to learn a whole new playing style instantly, which is impossible. Najera, who came in for K-Mart, could not be more different a forward than K-Mart. Jamel Crawford, who had 20 points in the quarter, stole the ball from Najera and sunk the 3 at the buzzer. That's a fluke game if there ever was one.

I am going to discuss this game in greater detail in the thread I am going to start regarding the brawl and the suspensions because this first game in Denver was one of the reasons the brawl happened.

Returning to tonight's game, the Nuggets were a scorching 45/79 from the field or .570. Every Nugget who played had either a good or a great night on the scoreboard except for, you guessed it, Najera. The Knicks had one of those "even the tip-ins won't go in" nights and were just .432 from the field.

Camby got his old team even more frustrated than they would have been from just the scoreboard. He had a dream game for a center: 9/11 from the field and 6/6 from the line for 24 points. And what really steamed the Knicks was his 7 blocks (and Nene added 2 more). Camby also had 9 rebounds, 3 assists, and a steal.

Coach Karl gave Reggie Evans some minutes tonight (17) and he responded as usual: 3/4 from the field and 2/2 from the line for 8 points, and he had 9 rebounds in the 17 minutes. Earth to Karl: always give Reggie Evans at least 17 minutes.

Najera was the only Nugget who had a bad night, just 4 free throws and zero rebounds in 23 minutes. Diawara off the bench was cut way back to 11 minutes after his brick game against the Celtics, so naturally he had a great game against the Knicks, 2/2 from 3-point land for 6 points, and he had 2 assists and a rebound.

Andre Miller is out of a short slump he was in and was a solid 5/9 from the field and 2/2 from the line for 12 points. More impressive still, he had a big 10 assists, an unusual 5 rebounds, and 3 steals. Boykins was a dependable 4/9, and 2/4 on 3's, and 2/2 from the line for 12 points.

J.R. Smith must have read my post from last night on Justbball (or else Coach had some spare time from the Iverson mess) because he expanded his game big time from just shooting 3's. Unfortunately, he annoyed the hell out of Mardy Collins, whose flagrant on Smith with a minute and change left in the game, with Smith on a breakaway dunk, ignited the scuffle. Before he was neck tackled in mid-air, Smith was 4/7 from the field, 2/4 from downtown, and 3/4 from the line for 13 points, and he had 3 assists and even 3 rebounds.

Melo had just 11 points in the first half, but 34 for the game on 15/29 from the field, 0/1 on 3's and 4/5 from the line, and he added 7 rebounds and 4 assists. We now have a league where the top scorer, Melo, is about to be suspended and the number 2 scorer, Iverson, is already suspended (by the 76ers). Jeesh.

The next game, if there is one, is back in Denver against the Washington Wizards on Monday night against the Wizards. Oh great, we got buried by the Wizards the other night with our starters and now we have to play them with our benchers. Life can be so damn unfair sometimes. Game time is 7 pm mountain time.