Archive for the ‘Denver Nuggets’ Category

The Denver Nuggets have arguably been the most intriguing NBA team of the past month. Since they traded Carmelo Anthony, Chauncey Billups, Anthony Carter, Renaldo Balkman and Shelden Williams to the Knicks for Raymond Felton, Wilson Chandler, Danilo Gallinari, Timofey Mozgov and a bunch of future draft picks, the Nuggets have gone 9-4 with their last two losses coming against the Magic and Heat. The trade has allowed players like Nene, Ty Lawson and Arron Afflalo to show that they can thrive in larger roles and the consensus appears to be that the Nuggets won this trade, hands-down.

Amazingly, Denver’s offense and defense have both improved since the trade. As reported by Justin Kubatko of the New York Times, before the recent back-to-back losses against premier teams, the Nuggets offense had improved from 1.13 points per possession pre-trade to 1.14 points per possession post-trade, while their defense allowed 1.10 points per possession before the trade compared to 1.00 point per possession after the trade. It’s a relatively small sample size, but when you combine this with the fact that the Knicks are 7-8 since the trade, Carmelo Anthony’s actual worth has to be called into question.

As Denver is coming off two losses to tough opponents, the Raptors are riding a high from back-to-back wins including last night’s shocking win in Oklahoma City that broke a 14-game road losing streak. I’m not sure what got into our boys last night, but they played with surprising confidence and inexplicably didn’t collapse in the clutch. If you didn’t know better, you might think they’re actually starting to jell into a competitive team.

Playing against a team with a 27-7 home record this season could be a reality check for the Raptors — the Nuggets have won six straight in Denver and they’re gunning for home court advantage in the first round if they can make up the 4 1/2 games behind fourth-place Oklahoma City. I’m not sure what the Raptors are playing for at this point, other than messing up their chances of winning the draft lottery.

Injury report

Toronto: No injuries reported.

Denver: Raymond Felton and Al Harrington are both expected to sit this one out, while Arron Afflalo is questionable with a hamstring injury he suffered on Saturday.

Five questions

1. Is Reggie Evans the real MVP of the Raptors? They’re 9-12 when he’s in the lineup this season and 11-37 when he doesn’t play.

2. Do you think the Carmelo trade is worth it for the Knicks in spite of the mediocre early returns because of their supposedly increased chances of landing a third star player?

3. Considering Amir Johnson’s cool under pressure last night, should the Raptors look to him more often as a scoring option in late-game clutch situations?

4. Which NBA prospect impressed you the most during the first three rounds of the NCAA tournament?

5. Would anyone be surprised if Chris Andersen starts getting his whole face covered in tattoos now that he’s apparently run out of room to put them anywhere else?

Start time: 9:00 PM ET
Channel: TSN
Probable starting lineups
Toronto: Jose Calderon, DeMar DeRozan, James Johnson, Amir Johnson, Andrea Bargnani
Denver: Ty Lawson, J.R. Smith, Wilson Chandler, Kenyon Martin, Nene Hilario

Tonight’s pregame song was recommended by Drew Fairservice from our Getting Blanked blog. It’s “The Past Two” by Planes Mistaken for Stars, a band that was based in Denver for most of its existence. Chris Dart wanted me to use John Denver but… no.

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Nene had his way on the inside, while the rest of the Nuggets hit daggers from the outside

The Raptors were looking to make it two straight Friday night victories over Western Conference teams missing their stars, as Carmelo Anthony sat this one out. Jose Calderon sat out for Toronto, reportedly suffering from a cold and sore foot.

From the get-go, it was apparent this was going to be an offensively dominated ball game. The two teams traded baskets, with the odd defensive stop garnering big cheers from a lively crowd.

That crowd was slowly silenced, as Denver shot 75 percent in the first quarter en route to a 39-point quarter and a 74-point first half. The Raptors were putting on an offensive display of their own, racking up 65 points before the break, but free throws and three-balls were the difference.

At halftime, Denver was 16-of-17 from the charity stripe and 8-of-16 from beyond the arc. Toronto was 3-of-4 and 4-0f-13, respectively.

The trend continued into the third quarter, as the Nuggets bombed away from three and were rewarded with free throws when they went inside. The Raptors, on the other hand, grew increasingly stagnant on the offensive end, continued to botch free throws and weren’t getting the calls on the rare instance they did drive the lane.

It all amounted to a 19-point Nuggets lead late in the third quarter, but you knew the Raptors would show their usual fight at some point. The Raps battled back to end the third and attempted the uphill battle in the fourth, but consistently came up short.

Between some ridiculous shots falling for the Nuggets and the Raptors shooting themselves in the foot, T.O. didn’t stand a chance. On one possession, with the Raps down seven, Al Harrington chucked up a fade-away three from well behind the arc that hit nothing but net.

Later, with the Raptors down just four, Chauncey Billups missed a tough shot and the rebound fell to Linas Kleiza, with no Nuggets around him. Sonny Weems then ran through Kleiza’s arms, and the ball deflected out of bounds. It was one of those nights at the ACC.

From an individual standpoint, Kleiza silenced his critics (for now) with his best performance as a Raptor. Andrea Bargnani added 24 points, but gets no love from me tonight, as Nene abused him on the other end.

Sonny Weems rebounded nicely with a 21-point, seven-rebound performance, but still settled for too many ill-advised jumpers that just happened to fall for him tonight. DeMar DeRozan looked lost out there, as he refused to attack the basket on one end and was unaware on the defensive end. Case in point, a loose ball slowly bounced by him in the fourth quarter and ended up in the hands of J.R. Smith, who promptly buried a three.

Jerryd Bayless responded to his first start as a Raptor with what was probably his worst game as a Raptor. He and Barbosa both tried to force things offensively, and while the offence put up 116 points, the lack of ball movement and lack of aggressiveness was painful to watch.

If the Raptors want to come out of this funk, they need to get back to putting an honest effort in on the defensive end, they need to start making their free throws and they need to figure out how to run a solid play out of a timeout. I don’t know if it’s bad play-calling on Jay and the coaching staff’s part, or a lack of execution on the players’ part, but a group of kids playing street ball can organize a better play out of a huddle right now.

The Raps are back at it on Saturday night in Detroit (without Calderon again) to face a Pistons team also coming off of a Friday night loss. We’ll do it all again in about 24 hours.

Raptors Player of the Game: Linas Kleiza -31 Min, 26 Pts, 11-16 FG, 4-5 3Pt, 0-1 FT, 12 Reb, 1 Ast, 1 Stl

Nuggets Player of the Game: Al Harrington -36 Min, 31 Pts, 12-19 FG, 6-11 3Pt, 1-1 FT, 6 Reb, 3 Ast

Goat of the Game: Jerryd Bayless – 23 Min, 3 Pts, 1-9 FG, 1-4 3Pt, 0-2 FT, 5 Ast

Side-note: I highly doubt George Karl will glance at this post before departing, but never the less, we have to congratulate Karl on grabbing win no. 1000 for his career tonight. It has to feel that much sweeter for all involved, given what Karl’s been through recently. Well done, coach.

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Still basking in the glow of Andrea Bargnani’s masterful 41-point performance on Wednesday? Then you might have forgotten that the Raptors are on a three-game losing streak where they’ve allowed an average of 117 points per game. Denver is on a two-game losing skid themselves after a two-point loss in Charlotte and a 16-point loss in Boston.

The Nuggets are seventh in the Western Conference with a 13-8 record but they’re very beatable on the road with a 3-7 record away from home. Having said that, one of their road wins was in Dallas, so they’re certainly not pushovers. You can expect another high-scoring, entertaining game at the Air Canada Centre tonight, regardless of who comes out ahead.

Injury report

Toronto: Peja’s indefinitely swollen knee means he remains questionable for every game until we see otherwise.

Denver: Carmelo Anthony will miss his second game in a row with knee inflammation, as reported by @stackmack.

Five questions

1. Can Nuggets coach George Karl make history tonight? He’s one win away from 1,000 wins, which would place him in company with Don Nelson, Lenny Wilkens, Pat Riley, Jerry Sloan, Phil Jackson and Larry Brown.

2. Will the Raptors get victimized by the longball again? Denver is seventh in the league in three-point percentage and eighth in three-pointers made.

3. Can the Raptors keep up to the Nuggets’ fast pace? Denver plays at the second-fastest pace (96.6 possessions per game) in the league, behind only Minnesota. (Raptors are sixth.)

4. Chris Andersen: Hot or not?

5. George Karl on his upcoming 1,000th win: “I’m the name that’s going to stick out in that group. ‘Karl? How did he get there? Did they give him a couple hundred wins or something?’ ”

Start time: 7:00 PM ET
Channel: TSN
Probable starting lineups
Toronto: Jose Calderon, DeMar DeRozan, Sonny Weems, Amir Johnson, Andrea Bargnani
Denver: Chauncey Billups, Arron Afflalo, Gary Forbes (who?), Shelden Williams, Nene

Tonight’s pregame song is “Lit Up” by Buckcherry because I feel like the lead singer and Chris Andersen have probably hung out before — and not just to get tattoos together.