The impossible dream is over. The Nuggets will not go undefeated this preseason thanks to a 111-108 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves in Bismarck, ND. Bismarck may be named after my favorite German politician of all time, but according to something Jason Kosmicki said during the radio broadcast of the game against the Suns in Syracuse, NY, Bismarck apparently did not have the technology for the Nuggets to broadcast the game over the radio. That is probably not something the Bismarck Travel and Tourism office will be pointing out in any of their propaganda.
Once again, no real sound conclusions can be drawn from the box score, but we can see that Carmelo Anthony followed up his five assist game with a seven assist game, which makes me happy. J.R. Smith continued his solid shooting, but apparently missed a three pointer that would have put the Nuggets up one with four seconds left.
The Rocky Mountain News has a somewhat detailed game recap so I will direct you there. Apparently the starters fell into a 31-18 hole at the end of the first quarter. Kleiza came in and shot 10 free throws in just the second quarter. He must have been very aggressive.
Allen Iverson sat out the game with his bum ankle still bothering him. Hopefully he can recover in time for opening night.
Smush Parker played over 12 minutes, but had three turnovers and only one assist. It is possible he was making some nice passes that were not converted, but it is also possible that I will eat stake every meal for the rest of my life. It just is not probable. Mateen Cleaves did not play tonight as George Karl continues to rotate those two in and out of the lineup.
Juwan Howard did not play tonight either, but I doubt that is anything more than a night off. The team knows what he is capable of and I doubt a DNP – CD is going to hurt his chances of making the team.
I am not sure how much we can trust the stats from whoever was keeping track from the scorers table, but the Nuggets were only credited with six fast break points, which seems low. That would require them to score 101 points off of free throws and in the half court. Once again, not impossible, just improbable.
Canis Hoopus has some notes from the Wolves perspective including their shock at Randy Foye handing out 15 assists. Apparently, that was not expected. Yet another improbable moment brought to us, or not brought to us, by Bismarck, ND.
