Losers of 12 out of their last 13 games, some might say the Minnesota Wolves Schedule has not been kind to them this season. The only problem is the NBA season is a heartless grind that sometimes seems to never relent.

I said before this game started that the Nuggets should have a double-digit point lead by halftime. The Timberwolves, who did beat the Nuggets once already this season with Denver winning the other two previous meetings, are the worst team in the Western Conference at 14-50 overall coming into tonight's game and anything but a win tonight would eat at me from the inner sanctity of my very being.

George Karl did not coach this game due to undergoing cancer treatment and I thought the rotations in the first half were terrible. I know that the Nuggets are trying to find their way without Kenyon Martin and Ty Lawson, but there was a stretch in the first half where Adrian Dantley had Chris Andersen, Malik Allen, Joey Graham, Anthony Carter, and J.R. Smith all in the game at the same time. This left J.R. Smith as the only scorer and primary ball handler and it didn’t work out. In fact, he finished 0-4 from the field in the first half with the T-Wolf defense able to key on him defensively. Thankfully, Chauncey Billups was too much for the smaller rookie, Jonny Flynn and worked over the youngster for eleven points in the first half. 

The Timberwolves, despite their record, didn’t settle for mediocre basketball and worked the ball inside for better shots than the Nuggets did in the first half. Denver settled on the offensive end for jump shots and at times struggled to get inside the Timberwolves’ perimeter defense. The result was Minnesota shooting 18 free-throws compared to just nine for the Nuggets, and to their credit, the Timberwolves made good on 16 of them. The T-Wolves also got the better of the rebounding battle by pulling down eight offensive boards in the first half.

The culmination of all these things left the Nuggets trailing by five, 53-48, at intermission.

Another point I’d like to illustrate about the first half was how the Nuggets were flat out-energized by the Grizzlies. To me, this is a problem when a team with playoff seeding on the line is not bringing the game to a team that is already planning their off-season vacations. Injuries are no excuse for this when a win here or a win there could mean the difference between having home court advantage in the playoffs and playing a lesser foe or being in a dogfight with a potential 4-5 match-up.

Sigh.

J.R. Smith did keep me from having a sleepless night and came alive in the third quarter after a scoreless first half. With the Nuggets still trailing by three midway through the third quarter, Smith was lighting in a bottle with three consecutive three-pointers all within a minute to put some swagger back in Denver’s step. Chris Andersen was also special tonight off the bench. The Birdman was soaring around the basket changing at least five or six shots, including forcing a 24-second clock violation after Big Al Jefferson was afraid to challenge him in the paint, blocking three others, and offering 14 points and ten rebounds when all was said and done.

The combined efforts by J.R. Smith and Chris Andersen off the bench were contagious as the rest of the Nuggets slowly but surely came around into the rhythm of the game. It was the Bird’s tip shot that tied the game at 72 all with under three minutes to play in the third and with Chauncey scoring the final five points of the quarter. Denver took a, 79-72, lead into the fourth. Those five by the King of Park Hill were the first of an 11-0 run spanning 5:15 over the course of the end of the third quarter and the first two minutes of the fourth which afforded the Nuggets a 13-point lead, 85-72.

Then with the game basically in hand with four minutes remaining in regulation, Earl J. Smith essentially blew my mind with a 360-alley-oop from Chauncey Billups on the fast break that made me jump up off the couch, do a little spin of my own, and frantically search for the DVR remote to verify what I thought I had just witnessed was, indeed, humanly possible.

Chauncey trotted the ball up on the fast break when Smith came streaking down the right side of the floor. At first, it looked like Chauncey was going to be late with the pass and pull up for one of his patented three’s in transition instead. But, when the lob was thrown late it was also touch behind Smith who not only had the presence of mind to corkscrew his body - in mid-flight, mind you - to catch the pass but also had the altitude to continue spinning all the way around and slam the ball through the net with what is easily the dunk of the year up to this point. League-wide. Hands-down. Amazing.

Smith finished 15 points, four rebounds, three assists, and two steals without a single turnover. Chauncey Billups was the Nuggets’ high-scorer with 25 points, including the dagger three with 1:13 remaining to put the Nuggets up by eleven, before Denver won it’s 43 game of the season, 110-102. Carmelo Anthony didn’t reach 30 points for the first time in three games finishing with 19 points, six rebounds, five assists, five steals, and a block.

The Nuggets are in New Orleans on Friday to take on the Hornets where they will be looking to win their fifth straight game.

Go Nuggets!

Name

Email

Website

Title

Comment

smaller | bigger

Subscribe via email (registered users only)

Add Comment