It’s becoming difficult for Nuggets fans to stay humble, which is unfortunate, because no team will be as eager to quit as the Hornets were. Nevertheless, the win last night wasn’t easy…or was it?
After a thrilling start to the game, including back-to-back dunks by Carmelo and J.R. Smith in the first quarter, a friend and I were discussing our chances. I try not to take anything for granted in sports because that backfires so often. But the Nuggets were controlling the tempo completely, and I felt like even if the game was close, we’d run away with it in the fourth quarter. He agreed.
Watching the third quarter last night, I was not so confident. Dallas controlled the pace of the game and turned it into a halfcourt, let’s-trade-possessions contest, which they’d clearly rather play at altitude than deal with our frenetic attack. I thought the Nuggets were headed for a real test in the fourth quarter. Nevertheless they blew the Mavericks away with another huge run to start the fourth and the game became another chance to take our stars out early to the roar of the crowd.
Once again, the whole team stepped up. Nene had his second great offensive game of the series, scoring 25 to go with eight rebounds. Carmelo added 25 of his own despite taking himself out with stomach cramps briefly in the second quarter. (He still played a game-high 42 minutes.) I thought watching the game that Chauncey’s shooting had cooled off, and I guess compared to his start in the Hornets series it has, but he hit four-of-nine threes and had some great passes. J.R. Smith poured in points all night, which made up for his costly three-point miss before halftime that gave Jason Kidd time to convert one of his own. The only other play I really hated was when Kenyon Martin, who was fined $25,000 for his post-whistle hit on Dirk Sunday, was whistled for a foul as part of a double technical when he was hammered attacking the rim, but I still don’t think he did anything wrong on the play, so I don’t blame him for that. And still, it was fun to see Nene step in after the foul, because he's so huge it's clear no one is even going to pretend to want a piece of him. (By the way, I was surprised by the fine, but the video reminds me how his hit came after the whistle, so what are you gonna do?)
Comments
I really don't understand how Melo doesn't get more calls. It's like all the refs had some kind of meeting and decided that Melo won't get any fouls called when he drives to the rim. Last night he was hacked several times and didn't get a call. I can understand why he gets so frustrated and settles for his jumper more than he should.
J.R. was great last night...most of the time. He took some off-balance contested 3s for no apparent reason, but all in all I thought he carried the team offensively during a few key moments in the game when the momentum could've changed over to Dallas.
It seemed like Carlisle called a timeout anytime the Nuggets scored two consecutive baskets which prevented the Nuggets from really running away with the game early, so I guess it was a good coaching move, it was just really annoying.
On a side note, did you hear that Barkley said he thought the Nuggets would win the championship on PTI yesterday? It's about time Chuck gave the Nuggets some respect!
I don't know why Carmelo doesn't get more respect from the refs, either. I assume it has to do with his under-control style of play; since he uses strength rather than speed he doesn't go flying when he gets fouled like some guys do. I don't think that lets the refs off the hook but imagine how easy it is to call a foul when someone like Chris Paul breaks down in tears whenever he is touched.
Carlisle's timeouts were annoying, and apparently he had like 80 of them, but it was absolutely the right move for his team.
I didn't hear Barkley say that, but glad to know I'm not alone in thinking it's a possibility.
However, last night's game revealed one scary weakness, which had nothing to do with our opponent. There were some flashbacks to last years Nuggets, Melo and others ignoring the concept of passing, driving to the hole, getting no call, and no basket.
Selfish Nuggets wont get out of the next round, unselfish Nuggets can and might beat everyone. That leaves me excited and a little scared. But I haven't cared like this since MJ wore a red uniform.
One last point, I was just in awe of the next level of intensity we brought on Defence in the fourth. With that, get our your brooms.
LT
No team has ever wanted to win less than the New Orleans Hornets, and we didn't even sweep them, so I hesitate to call for the brooms, especially considering Game Three isn't for another twenty-one days.
The thing I really love is that we are playing our best basketball now, when it matters most. When has that been true of a Nuggets team?