Nuggets Begin Season Rescue, Defeat Pacers 102-95

The Nuggets slinked out of Denver for their flight to Indiana knowing that many of their fans have abandoned them and that their season is now in danger of total ruin. The rescue of their season is going to require a dozen or more road wins. So they did what any snakebit but talented team does in that situation: they defied the predictors yet again by getting a win just when most were sure that they would lose.

There are alot of sports bettors who have lost alot of money betting on Nuggets games this year. (If you do wager, and you should not because the house almost always wins, at least never bet on a complicated team.)

The Pacers shot poorly at .427 versus .484 for the Nuggets. The Pacers shot themselves in the foot enough times in this one that the Nuggets could win it without the injured Iverson and the injured Camby, provided at least a couple of Nuggets stepped up. They did: it was Najera and Kleiza. It was the long lost Najera who was the primary spark to back up Melo. Najera had by far his best game of the season for the Nuggets; he had 18 points on 8/9 shooting. Linas Kleiza also excelled, scoring 15 on 3/6 shooting.

Although the Nuggets tempted fate yet again with 20 turnovers, the Pacers were hammered with 32 fouls, whereas the Nuggets got away with 23. Each team had only 36 points in the paint, so it was to be won or lost on jumpers. Although the Pacers outshot the Nuggets 8-4 on 3 point shots, the Nuggets were suddenly seeing jumpers fall that they couldn't bribe to go in during the last few weeks. Melo's lost midrange jumper was discovered dazed and ragged but alive nevertheless. Melo was 9/20 on jumpers, Kleiza was 3-6, Blake was 3-5, and Najera was 2/3. It has been about two months since the Nuggets shot jumpers that well.

And when the Nuggets did go to the hoop, they got alot of calls. The Nuggets were 32/43 from the line whereas the Pacers were 11/13. The Pacers undoubtedly felt they were robbed by the refs in their own building. Nuggets fans would rather think that the Nuggets are getting so tired of losing from missed jumpers that they were going to go to the hoop over and over, even at the risk of charge calls, which they largely escaped, a fact which enraged the Indiana coach.

The Pacers, who lost by missing practically half a dozen layups and tip-ins at the buzzer against the Sonics at home the other night, and who were also rattled by Jermaine O'Neill trade rumors and by being unable to gain any traction against the struggling Cavaliers and the imperfect Pistons, were in a bad mood and it cost them. There were 5 technical fouls called against Indiana, resulting in the ejection of Coach Rick Carlisle early in the 4th quarter for arguing a no-call against a Nene advance to the hoop, and PG Darrell Armstrong half way through the 4th quarter for arguing a loose ball foul against Jeff Foster (who also got a technical) too much.

Aside from being hampered by the injuries and the ongoing project of learning how to play together, the Nuggets seem to get a little stage fright in front of their own fans, because so much is expected of them by "Nuggets mania". So they may actually find it a little easier to win on the road than in Denver. And that is great news considering the Nuggets are now destined to play more on the road than at home in the playoffs. We can now say that the Nuggets will enjoy the road court advantage in the playoffs.

I, for one, am no longer going to attempt to predict whether the Nuggets will win or lose a game, because they are almost impossible to predict. Players who haven't played well in a month suddenly have a great game, or else players who have had 6 straight good games finish with 2 points and 5 turnovers or something. Only a fool would predict with that kind of extreme inconsistency.

The Nuggets, who have blown so many 4th quarter leads (most of them at home) tormented their fans through this 4th quarter but in the end got by the Indiana Pacers 102-95. The Nuggets led 76-63 after 3 quarters, but naturally the Pacers scored 11 straight points to begin the 4th and Nuggets fans were saying "we've seen this show before" and were already pencilling in a loss.

But it didn't go down that way this time. The Pacers tempted the Nuggets to break down and lose again but a new strategy was finally revealed for the Nuggets to close out games with: the "put up a lame jumper and you are benched" strategy. Or, in other words, the Nuggets were to do the exact opposite of what they have been doing in all those 4th quarter collapses.

The Nuggets were to aggressively go to the hoop over and over, unless every single lane was blocked. They were to get foul calls against tired defenders trying to close the gap in the score and then make their free throws. They were to crash the boards and fight for position and rebounds. Offensive rebounds chew clock and are especially great when you have the lead and time is running out. And the Nuggets were supposed to man to man cover closer than usual and not worry if a foul or two was called. Logically, the strategy had to work because it was the exact opposite of what the Nuggets have been doing in 4th quarters with leads, and so it did work.

So the new strategy was launched and, in a minute and a half, the Nuggets made 4 free throws, 3 technical free throws, and had Kleiza sink a three, versus 2 free throws for O'Neill, so that it was 86-76 Nuggets with 6:28 to play. However, successive 3-pointers by F-C Troy Murphy and F Danny Granger made it 89-87 Nuggets with 4:23 to go and once again everyone was assuming the Nuggets would lose.

Out came the new strategy again. Instead of settling for contested jumpers, the Nuggets went to the hoop over and over and actually made their free throws when tired defenders trying to close a gap were called by the closely watching refs. Hopefully the Nuggets learned a very valuable basketball lesson: the refs can be your best friends late in the game when you have a lead.

Evans played 28 minutes and was 1/5 and 0/2 from the line for 2 points, but he had 10 rebounds, 2 assists, a block, and a steal. Nene played 34 minutes and was 3/8 and 8/14 from the line for 14 points, and he had 7 rebounds and 2 assists.

Linas Kleiza played 30 minutes and was 4/8, 3/6 on 3's, and 4/4 from the line for 15 points, and he added 5 rebounds and a steal to all this scoring. Eduardo Najera played for 29 minutes and was 8/9 and 2/4 from the line for 18 points, and he added 9 rebounds, 2 steals, a block, and an assist.

With Melo getting 6 rebounds, every single Nugget forward had 5 or more rebounds, which went a long way to covering for the missing Camby.

Steve Blake played for 43 minutes and was 3/5, 1/2 on 3's, and 4/4 from the line for 11 points and he had 8 assists, 2 rebounds, and a steal.

With the forwards all playing well for the first time this season, the coach limited J.R. Smith to 19 minutes and he was only 1/6, 0/1 on 3's, and 2/2 from the line for 4 points. On the night the other Nuggets were making jumpers, J.R. decided to not try too many. He was still smarting from his bad shooting in the loss at the buzzer to his prior team, the Hornets, from two nights ago.

All-star Carmelo Anthony played 45 minutes and was 11/24, 0/2 on 3's, and 12/13 from the line for 34 points, and he had 6 rebounds and 5 assists. Now if only his midrange jumper doesn't go into hiding again the Nuggets will be able to win some more on the road.

The next game will be tomorrow night, Saturday, Feb. 10, in Milwaukee to play the Bucks at 6:30 pm mountain time.

Melo & J.R. Off as Nuggets Lose at the Buzzer to Hornets 114-112

In a story almost too sad to tell, the Nuggets led the entire game but Carmelo Anthony and J.R. Smith missed too many shots and the Hornets got too many second chance opportunities, including the one at the buzzer of the overtime as the Nuggets became a losing team by dropping yet another home game to a losing team, 114-112 in one overtime.

The Nugget's star small forward Melo badly missed a jumper in regulation that would have won it for the Nuggets, but at the end of overtime, the Hornet's small forward, Desmond Mason, was in position near the hoop to grab the ball off a Melo block of a short jumper by Chris Paul. Nene was close but Mason was in better position to grab it. Mason put in a mini-jumper with less than a second left that won it for the Hornets. So it was a small forward who won the game but it was not the Nugget's small forward.

The Nuggets had a 99-89 lead with 3:50 to play in regulation but were outscored 14-4 in that time. In this 3:50 period, the Nuggets had 5 missed shots, 2 turnovers, and committed 3 unforced personal fouls, while making two free throws and one tip-in. In short, they gave the game away, only they had to disappoint their fans further by playing in overtime, since it was 103-103 at the end of the 4th.

In overtime Melo made one jumper, missed one, and had one blocked by Desmond Mason. Blake made a nice layup but offset that by losing the ball out of bounds. J.R. Smith came in with 23 seconds left in overtime with the Nuggets losing 112-109 and promptly buried a three with 17 seconds left, setting up the Chris Paul blocked jumper and the Desmond Mason point blank jumper. Actually, all J.R.'s made shot did was increase the misery, since the Nuggets still lost and since his shot reminded fans that he was only 2/13 for 6 points in regulation time.

It is true, though, that if Marcus Camby had been at the hoop at the buzzer there would have been no Mason follow up. Of course, if Marcus Camby had been in, the Nuggets would have won it in regulation, despite the shooting problems of the once high flying Nuggets. Camby remained out for a second game with a groin strain. Predictably, the Nuggets were outrebounded, by a margin of 57-46. It is unusual for the Nuggets to be outrebounded, and they usually lose when they are.

When you have Eduardo Najera putting up and making enough shots to finish in double digits (11 points) for the first time in ages you know something is seriously wrong with the Nugget's offense. Aside from the jump shooting problems of the entire team except Iverson and maybe Kleiza of all people, Blake and A.I. are still trying to develop the best distribution patterns for the ball and George Karl is still trying to develop the best player rotations. But there is very little time left for these things to be improved.

At this point everyone is getting very tired and frustrated with these Nuggets, who had enough talent to go 50-32 this year but have had so many lost player games due to suspensions and injuries, and have had so many off games by key players, that many of their fans have at this point lost hope in them. Most fans can only stand so much disappointment, and the amount the average fan can take was reached tonight. Maybe Stern can give a couple of Nuggets a 20 game suspension so that the fans can throw in the towel on the season once and for all and immediately begin looking ahead to next season and the possible return of Kenyon Martin, assuming of course that K-Mart has been able to shake off the voodoo curse on his knee by then.

Enough already, the fans are saying. So at this point, the Nuggets will have to earn their fans back by winning 2 or 3 upsets on the road. Good luck. The Nuggets no longer have the benefit of the doubt. They now must prove themselves from scratch. If the Nuggets win a playoff series they will surprise their own fans as well as their opponents.

And at this point all Nugget's players and coaches can throw out all their own high expectations for the Nuggets and realize that the Nuggets are not even going to make the playoffs unless things change. It is going to take some road wins for the Nuggets to make the playoffs, and it is going to take some good fortune on the injury front, less inconsistency from J.R. and Blake, and more made jumpers from Melo for the Nuggets to win some road games. But hey, if that sounds too difficult, consider that the Hornets just won their 13th road game in their last 15. Yes, I said the Hornets. So it can't be that difficult to win some on the road.

Did someone put a voodoo curse on Allen Iverson that every team he ever plays for must be a hopeless, losing team? Maybe, because the Nugget's injuries and individual player performances are getting very creepy at this point. On the other hand, I am thinking of Iverson as more of an innocent bystander in this basketball horror movie. Melo this week said the team is "snake-bit", but I am thinking more in terms of a black magic spell. I'd say the curse is on the Nuggets as a team, not on Iverson, but then again, what do I know about black magic?

Kleiza played for 17 minutes and was 2/4 and 0/1 on 3's for 4 points and he added 4 rebounds. Reggie Evans played 25 minutes and was 3/4 and 1/2 from the line for 7 points, and he had 4 rebounds, 2 assists, a block, and a steal. Najera played for 37 minutes and was 4/5 and 3/3 from the line for 11 points, and he had 9 rebounds, 2 steals, and a block.

Steve Blake played 38 minutes and was 6/12 and 2/7 on 3's for 14 points, and he also had 6 assists, 5 rebounds, a steal, and a block.

J.R. Smith played for 20 minutes and was 3/13, 2/8 on 3's, and 1/2 from the line for 9 points. He also had 3 rebounds, 2 assists, and a steal. Every once in awhile, J.R. decides he would rather shoot long jumpers all game and not look very hard for lanes to drive to the hoop. In these cases he will usually be the hero or the goat. Tonight he was the goat. Why does J.R. sometimes put himself under that much pressure? Why doesn't J.R. mix up his shots EVERY game and get a few relatively easy layups, dunks, and free throws every time out? This is part of the mystery of J.R. Smith that no human can figure out. At the very least, someone should tell J.R. that he is way to young to be only a 3-point specialist, a role reserved for older veterans in the NBA.

Nene played for 35 minutes and was 8/16 and 2/6 from the line for 18 points, and he had 8 rebounds, 3 blocks, 2 assists, and a steal. It was a pretty good game, except that he, like the rest of the Nuggets, missed most of his jumpers. A Nene jump shot is too much to ask for at this point; he should stick to the layups, tip-ins, and dunks.

Melo played 40 minutes and was 9/23, 0/2 on 3's, and 9/9 from the line for 27 points, and he added 9 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 blocks. The bottom really fell out of his jumper; he was only 3/17 for that type of shot.

Allen Iverson, the innocent bystander to the train wreck that is the Nuggets, played the entire game despite coming off a severe ankle strain and was 9/21, 1/4 on 3's, and 3/5 from the line for 22 points, and he had 9 assists, 4 rebounds, and 2 steals. During breaks, Iverson iced his sprained right ankle on the bench.

Melo skipped his usual postgame podium stop and was said to have sat staring into his locker for several dozen minutes after the game. He knows he has lost many of the fans and will get them back only if he returns to the exact way he was shooting jump shots on December 16 and before then. There are very precise motions and thinking involved in any skill, and Melo's task is to reconnect with the exact motions and the thinking that had him making half his shots.

The next game will be Friday, Feb. 9 in Indianapolis to play the Pacers at 5 p.m. mountain time.

Nuggets Without A.I. & M.C. Fall Just Short to Suns 113-108

The Nuggets have lost alot of games at home this year, where their record is just 13-13, but this one, at least, was a loss on paper only. The Nuggets won the intangible battle by playing with alot of intensity and spirit, by having most of their players substantially contribute, and by holding the Suns to a 5 point winning margin, despite playing without two of their three best players, Allen Iverson and Marcus Camby, both out with injuries.

With A.I. and M.C. out, it was a perfect opportunity for Melo, who was playing with a finger contusion, to expand the reach of his game. Sure enough, he had a "triple double" with 31 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists. However, Melo continued to be slightly off on his midrange jumpers; had he produced that shot at the same pace he did in November and December, the Nuggets could have won this or taken it into overtime. J.R. Smith had 18 points on 7/13 shooting and the dynamic duo from the early part of the season was back for this game in good form. And Nene staked out the paint and scored on 5/6 layups, 4/5 dunks, and even 3/8 jumpers, though he did not have enough experience to guard the likes of Stoudemire well.

The Nuggets tried to outhustle and nickle and dime the Suns with good execution and heavy scoring in the paint, and they almost pulled off what would have been a monumental upset. Led by Nene, the Nuggets continued to try a tougher brand of defense, although they will probably never be as rough as the Jazz or as skilled as the Rockets on defense. They outrebounded the Suns 48-38 and they ran a great passing game and had 30 assists, with Blake and Anthony getting 10 assists each. And the Nuggets turnover problem was kept under good control in this one.

The Nuggets had the will to win and played almost as well as they could, but fate keeps intervening and removing players from games who the Nuggets need to win. The Nuggets have been routed only three times: in Dallas, in Los Angeles, and in Washington, and only 8 of the 23 losses have been by 10 or more points. 11 of the 23 losses have been very close games, where the margin of victory for the other team was 5 points or less.

The Nuggets have never completely surrendered any game, though they have had alot of defensive lapses and execution problems to get all these losses. Even in the 3 routs the Nuggets have continued to play hard. My point here, though, is to note the importance of the intangible of the will the win, which never leaves the Nuggets, even when they are playing in such a way that they can not possibly win. Or, to put it another way, if you are going to play poorly, at least keep believing you can win; if you play poorly and decide you can't win, then you are completely ruined, and the routs will start to pile up.

Both A.I. and M.C. were undoubtedly and correctly thinking while watching this game that the Nuggets would have beaten the Suns had either one of them been in. Had M.C. been in, C Amare Stoudemire, who had 36 points on 13/17 shooting, would not have had such an easy time of it. And had A.I. been in, the Nuggets would have had his shots instead of the lesser in number and more inaccurate shots from Steve Blake, DerMarr Johnson and Eduardo Najera.

So the Nuggets got a major consolation prize in this one. They indirectly proved that they can beat the Suns, at least at home. Despite being just 4-6 in the last 10 and 23-23 on the season, the Nuggets are still a potential threat when the playoffs begin in late April.

The Nuggets have lost so many home games at this point that, most likely, the best playoff seed thay can possibly get is the 5th, which would still be home court advantage for the opponent, so at this point losing an individual game is not really such a big deal anymore. The top four seeds are going to finish with better records than the Nuggets, the only thing yet to be decided is how much better those records will be. The Nuggets are destined to be without the home court advantage for the first playoff round and probably for any rounds after that as well. They should set their sights on the 5th seed, which is still possible to get.

These ramped up Nuggets had a shocker up on the scoreboard for a while. It was 60-51 Nuggets at the half, and when Diawara sunk a 3-pointer with 10 minutes left in the third, it was 67-57 Nuggets and fans were seriously thinking that they were watching a shocking upset. But then the Suns, who are so talented that they used just 5 players, Stoudemire, Bell, Diaw, Marion, and Barbosa for the great majority of the minutes, threw everything but the kitchen sink at the Nuggets (free throws, layups, dunks, jumpers, and 3-pointers) and it was 81-79 Phoenix at the end of the quarter.

In the 4th quarter, Leandro Barbosa and Stoudemire dominated for the Suns. PG Steve Nash sat out the second half due to inflammation in his right shoulder. This was no problem at all for the Suns, because the backup PG Barbosa is better than many starting point guards. Barbosa had 12 points in the quarter, including two of his 4 three pointers, and Stoudemire relentlessly went to the hoop to get easy layups or trips to the free throw line. When you are playing the Suns, it may seem like you are being nickled and dimed by several good players, but the scoreboard tells the real story, which is that you are being buried by several great players.

It was 105-98 Suns with 46 seconds to go when Steve Blake missed a three-pointer that might have gotten the Nuggets back in it. The Nuggets still did not surrender though, as they committed 5 intentional fouls and narrowed the margin from 7 to 5 by doing so, before time ran out.

DerMarr Johnson played 14 minutes and was 2/8, 2/6 on 3's and 1/2 from the line for 7 points, and he had 3 rebounds and a block. Diawara played 15 minutes and was 2/3 and 2/2 from downtown for 6 points.

Linas Kleiza played 20 minutes and was 4/6 and 1/2 on 3's for 9 points, and he added 9 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 steal. Reggie Evans, who was playing with a right ankle sprain, played for 21 minutes and was 1-2 and 2-2 from the line for 4 points, and he added 9 rebounds, 1 block, 1 assist, and 1 steal. Najera played 26 minutes and was 1/5 and 1/2 from the line for 3 points, and he had 4 rebounds and a steal.

Steve Blake was 2/8 and 0/3 on 3's for 4 points, and he also had 10 assists, 2 rebounds, a block, and a steal.

Nene played a full 32 minutes and was 12/19 and 3/4 from the line for 27 points, and he added 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block, and 1 steal. He is not getting all the rebounds and blocks that Camby gets but on the other hand he more and more is finding it easier to score than Camby does.

J.R. Smith played for 29 minutes and was 7/13, 3/5 on 3's and 1/3 from the line for 18 points, and he added 4 assists, 3 rebounds, and a steal.

Melo was 12/27, 0/2 on 3's and 7/8 from the line for 31 points, and he had 10 assists and 10 rebounds. Anthony aggravated his injury, but postgame X-rays were negative.

The next game will be Wednesday, Feb. 7 in Denver against the Hornets at 7 pm mountain time.

Melo's Jumper Is Missing: Kings 94 Nuggets 87

Like someone looking for a lost child, Carmelo Anthony has seemingly become more and more frustrated in the last week or so about the fact his famous jump shot is missing. He is not getting easy scores like he did most of his career up until his 36 day suspension. Tonight, he went all out to find the missing skill. Even the Rocky Mountain Rescue Team bloodhounds were released to try to find it, but nothing was found.

True, Artest had a little something to do with it but he was certainly not the main reason for the large number of Melo misses. With only one layup and one dunk in this game, 22 of the 24 shots Melo took were jumpers, and only 5 connected, whereas he and Nuggets fans could have expected at least 9 or 10 to drop based on his previous play through December 16, 2006.

Overall, Melo was only 7/24 from the field, and with Iverson out, the Nuggets were unable to make up for the big shortage of Melo scoring, despite solid contributions from Nene, Steve Blake, and J.R. Smith. It was simply mathematically impossible to win this game with Melo held to 20 and no A.I..

So the Nuggets lost a very winnable game to the Kings, 94-87, to drop to 23-22 and now they are just barely hanging on to the last playoff berth in the West. Meanwhile, to add insult to injury, the team that is well ahead in the division that the Nuggets won last year, the Utah Jazz, beat the high flying Suns in their building, underscoring how far behind the Nuggets are in this years Western Conference. The Nuggets could not beat the Suns in Phoenix right now if it was 5 on 4. The team that many thought would roar like a lion is squeaking like a mouse.

And even if Melo had hit 4 or 5 more shots, though, the Nuggets might have lost anyway, either in regulation or in overtime. Both the Kings and the Nuggets were a very low 38% from the field. The Kings had no one off the bench going on a rampage like so many Nuggets opponents have had recently. Indeed, they had no surprises for the Nuggets to deal with at all, and they presented no major obstacles in the paint, and in general were very beatable and ready to be beaten. They were led by, predictably, SF Ron Artest and SG Kevin Martin. About all they had to do to beat the Nuggets was to protect the ball, which they did with a vengeance, finishing with just 9 turnovers.

The one thing you have to say in the Nugget's defense is that they were playing on the road with no rest, which whoever made the schedule has them doing alot. Meanwhile, the Kings were playing at home after two nights off.

The Nuggets, who came into this game tied with the Knicks, Magic, and Pacers for the most turnovers per game, almost certainly took over the lead in sloppiness with their 21 turnovers in this one. Melo had 6 turnovers, Camby had an extremely unusual 5, and Nene had 4 to lead the Nuggets in this negative category.

And check this, Allen Iverson and Ron Artest are two of the best pickpockets in the League. But with A.I. still out with an ankle sprain, Artest and the Kings picked the Nugget's pockets all game long: they had a huge 14 steals versus just 2 for the Nuggets. Artest had 4 steals, Martin and Bibby had 3 steals each, and 4 other Kings had one each for the incredible total of 14 steals. That, my friends, is having everything in all your pockets stolen.

There was one thing this game had that very few games have: alot of blocks. Marcus Camby, who probably surpassed Jermaine O'Neill as the number one blocker in the NBA with his 7 blocks, led the Nuggets who had a total of 10 blocks. But the Kings, who are just about the worst blocking team in the League, had 2 more than their typical number of blocks: they had 5 blocks.

So a quick way to sum up this fiasco is to think of it this way: Melo missed a ton of jumpers and the Nuggets had a ton of turnovers, while the Kings just laid back and let the Nuggets shoot themselves in the foot in these ways all night long and coasted to an easy but not a very well earned win.

This loss was like two losses in one; you had the actual loss and then the way it was lost. The loss featured an ugly lack of execution and the no show of the Melo shot. Even the Kings fans were curious about just where in the world Melo's shot has gone off to. The Nuggets are in real trouble until and unless these two problems are solved or at least mostly solved. Even with Iverson back in, the Nuggets in this condition still can not possibly beat the Spurs, Jazz or Rockets in a 7 game series, let alone the Lakers, Suns, or Mavs. You are looking at being almost swept in the playoffs, in fact.

The irony is that one problem that appeared to be big has been turning around during the last two games, namely, the severe shortage of performance outside of A.I., Melo, Camby, and J.R.. In the last two games, Nene and Blake have come on strong, and almost everyone else from the bench has contributed something, which is alot better than the almost nothing they were contributing.

But for the Nuggets, as soon as one problem is reduced, another one or two problems sprout up big and ugly. So is there time to get these things under control? Yes, there is about 4 weeks to be exact, as long as the Nuggets don't lose every single game during the 4 weeks.

Diawara played 12 minutes, missed one 3-pointer, and had 1 rebound. Linas Kleiza played 18 minutes and was 3/6, 2/4 on 3's, and 2/2 from the line for 10 points, and he had 2 rebounds. Najera played 19 minutes and was 3/6 for 6 points and he added 4 rebounds, 1 assist, and a steal.

DerMarr Johnson played 21 minutes and was 1/4, 1/3 on 3's, and 1/2 from the line for 4 points and he had 7 rebounds, 2 blocks, 2 assists, and a steal.

Nene played 29 minutes and was 5/12 and 3/7 from the line for 13 points, and he had 10 rebounds, 1 block, and 2 assists.

Blake played 29 minutes and was 5/9 and 3/5 from 3-point land for 13 points, and he had 7 assists and 4 rebounds.

J.R. Smith played 25 minutes and was 4/10, 3/8 on 3's, and 2/2 from the line for 13 points, and he had 3 assists and 3 rebounds. Back to back 3-pointers from Blake and Smith in the final minute of the game pulled the Nuggets to within 3, but Artest then calmly sunk a jumper to ice the easy win for the Kings.

Marcus Camby played for 34 minutes and was 3/9 for 6 points. Aside from the huge 15 rebounds and the more huge 7 blocks, he also had 4 assists.

Melo was only 7/25, 1/4 on 3's, and 5/6 from the line for 20 points and he had 7 rebounds and 2 assists. If someone stole Melo's jump shot (I'm thinking Nate Robinson or Isaiah Thomas as the most likely thieves), would you please return it to the Nuggets as soon as possible? You can return it anonymously, and no questions will be asked. Thanks in advance.

The next game will be Monday, Feb. 5 in Denver against the Suns at 7 pm mountain time.