That’s right: I just got home from watching the Denver Nuggets knock out the Charlotte Hornets, live at the Pepsi Center. And (most of) you didn’t.
This was my view in pregame:
That’s right: better seats, far worse view. (That guy’s sign, by the way, was something to the effect of how the Tenacious Nuggets Team D was worse than swine flu or something.) It also didn’t help that while meeting up with a different friend and his wife to go to this game that I broke my glasses and spent the game watching through a pair of specs with no left side to ’em.
Anyway, you (hopefully) caught the game. The first half was tense, with a few great moments, namely Chris Andersen’s ridiculous block on Chris Paul late in the first quarter. Also, there was Nene’s beastly left-handed dunk that was quickly followed by a Chauncey Billups three-pointer. And it blew my mind when Kenyon Martin hit that three. But the Hornets, led by David West, had it tied at the intermission.
The second half, though, the Nuggets pulled away. Carmelo Anthony seized the moment, scoring 24 of his 34 after halftime. He completely took over the way you’d expect a superstar to and I can’t wait to see how he’ll do against the Mavs. And J.R. Smith went a little nuts on the threes, including one he hit with his feet on the “F”s in the NBA Playoffs logo on the court (in other words, from really far out).
I have to say, though, that Chris Paul’s stock has dropped further in this series than any guy I’ve seen since maybe Vince Carter against the Knicks in 2000. Paul did absolutely nothing tonight and showed no sign he was capable of more. Of course, he is capable of more—he obviously has a ton of talent he’s shown other times—but it will be interesting to see what sense of urgency he has next year, because hurt or not, tired or not, he flat out did not get it done.
The night, though, was pretty awesome. You couldn’t hear Chauncey’s postgame interview as player of the game (?) over the crowd even if you’d wanted to. I finally met two of my friends’ wives tonight, and the one I drove down with actually knew how to get around Denver, so I made it home way faster this time. Plus, as you’ll see below, the guy in front of me actually sat down most of the game. It was great.
On to the second round!
This was my view in pregame:
That’s right: better seats, far worse view. (That guy’s sign, by the way, was something to the effect of how the Tenacious Nuggets Team D was worse than swine flu or something.) It also didn’t help that while meeting up with a different friend and his wife to go to this game that I broke my glasses and spent the game watching through a pair of specs with no left side to ’em.
Anyway, you (hopefully) caught the game. The first half was tense, with a few great moments, namely Chris Andersen’s ridiculous block on Chris Paul late in the first quarter. Also, there was Nene’s beastly left-handed dunk that was quickly followed by a Chauncey Billups three-pointer. And it blew my mind when Kenyon Martin hit that three. But the Hornets, led by David West, had it tied at the intermission.
The second half, though, the Nuggets pulled away. Carmelo Anthony seized the moment, scoring 24 of his 34 after halftime. He completely took over the way you’d expect a superstar to and I can’t wait to see how he’ll do against the Mavs. And J.R. Smith went a little nuts on the threes, including one he hit with his feet on the “F”s in the NBA Playoffs logo on the court (in other words, from really far out).
I have to say, though, that Chris Paul’s stock has dropped further in this series than any guy I’ve seen since maybe Vince Carter against the Knicks in 2000. Paul did absolutely nothing tonight and showed no sign he was capable of more. Of course, he is capable of more—he obviously has a ton of talent he’s shown other times—but it will be interesting to see what sense of urgency he has next year, because hurt or not, tired or not, he flat out did not get it done.
The night, though, was pretty awesome. You couldn’t hear Chauncey’s postgame interview as player of the game (?) over the crowd even if you’d wanted to. I finally met two of my friends’ wives tonight, and the one I drove down with actually knew how to get around Denver, so I made it home way faster this time. Plus, as you’ll see below, the guy in front of me actually sat down most of the game. It was great.
On to the second round!
Comments
What a great game. It was tense early, but I had the feeling we were going to break through and win going away. I love how exciting this team is right now.
I don't want to get too excited, but I like our chances int he second round now that the Mavs took care of Duncan for us . . .
I am excited to face the Mavs, though I'm impressed that, even considering the Ginobili injury, they were able to dispatch the Spurs so swiftly. What's up with that?
That game was amazing! I loved the MVP chants that Billups got at the free throw line and after the game during his interview. I was a little nervous about the "we want Dallas" chants (but not so nervous that I wasn't screaming at the top of my lungs as well) because Dallas is playing some pretty good ball right now, but if the Nuggets play D like they did against the Hornets I think they will have no problem beating the Mavs.
I agree with you on Paul, I can't believe the difference in this year's playoffs vs. last year. I remember last year he had like an 11-1 assist to turnover ratio. Mostly I just don't like him now because of all the flopping he does.
It was great to see Melo step up and play so great in the second half when his team really needed his scoring. I thought he played out of his mind on D too. Didn't he have like 4 steals?
The "we want Dallas" chants made me a little nervous because I didn't realize that series was already over, but I say bring it. I'm not too scared of Dirk.
Thanks for mentioning Carmelo's D...he was really getting after it on that end from start to finish.
So I say, bring on the Mavs!
For one, at lot of potential is wrapped up in the 250 lbs Brazilian. He is a big man on the court (close seats help give this impression) and he's super athletic, but no one has taught him to use his size on offense. Imagine if he put some Birdman enthusiasm towards getting to the basket, or if he'd rather go for less agressive, learn to sink the hook like so many of the great centers of old. He should by all rights be a consistent 15 to 20 pts a game and it would open up everyone else.
Next is K-Mart, he's fast, athletic, aggressive. All he needs is to "get smart" learn more about his own offensive skills, know his opponents and what he can get away with consistently. He played great last night, but there's the ever present "what were you thinking?" shot he'll take.
Melo is great, I was thoroughly impressed to see him in person. He's not a slash and dunk kind of guy, but he has such great touch on the ball and can school a double team with finesse double team. Where can he improve? Well, he still has some "baby fat" he could hit the gym and add some muscle, learn to use his off hand to power through defenders. Look at MJ, Lebron, and even Kobe, adding some muscle didn't hurt. I was impressed with Melo's D. He's come a long, long way from on that end and it's a game changer for the whole team. Yet, while I know he's in for the whole game, there was still 10 or 15 minutes where he's essentially resting on court. Add some conditioning to cover that extra time he would be scary to play against.
That's just my thoughts, It was fun to have Hole Punch at the game. Bring on the Lakers.
LT
I agree with you on all our players, especially Nene. At 26, he's still got some time, but I hope he can improve quickly. What's nice about our current team is that he doesn't necessarily have to score a lot of points every night to be a weapon...he just needs a (faster) go-to move or two so he can pick up the slack whenever a team keys on Melo & Chauncey.
K-Mart was the unsung hero of the first half...unsung on this blog, anyway. He played great. Plus I saw him drain a three from J.R. Smith-land in pregame; I guess that's why he's comfortable taking so many Js.
LT