Carmelo Anthony and the Nuggets revert back to isolation and one-on-one basketball and it results in their first loss of the season. But the biggest story coming out of the game is Kenyon Martin’s injury that kept him out of the second half in Miami.
Just wanted to share with you all that today signifies the 6-year anniversary of SB Nation. I started writing under Pickaxe & Roll for SB Nation back in January of 2009 and I'm approaching my one-year anniversary with the company. It's been a pleasure to be able to blog here and it's been even better since merging with Andrew and becoming Denver Stiffs. You the readers have made things awesome this season and just wanted to share my gratitude with you all and with SB Nation. Check out how things started way back when with just one blog: Athletics Nation: Baseball Country.
On to the game …
Martin played just 12 minutes and suffered what the team is calling a left leg contusion that head coach George Karl said will keep Martin sidelined for a “week or two” and Martin will undergo further tests on his leg. Hopefully K-Mart will be okay or else the Nuggets might be wishing they still had a few more days to pull out “big Bertha.”
About all you need to know about this game is that the Nuggets combined for a total of 10 team assists. When the Nuggets do not share the ball on offense, they struggle to win games. Melo was 12-22 shooting on the night (54%) but his play sort of set the tone for how the night went. As soon as Melo got the ball he was looking for his shot and it looked like he forgot he had four other guys on the floor wearing the same uniform as him. His play seemed to be contageous as the team put up shot after shot without the thought of passing the ball.
All the one-on-one play resulted in difficult shots and bad positioning. The bad positioning led to 19 turnovers and the Heat took advantage with 19 points off those bad possessions. This was definitely a forgettable game for the Nuggets, but after the starters went to the bench in the fourth quarter the Nuggets’ bench made a little run and made the score respectable. The 96-88 loss does not tell you how bad the Nuggets played tonight.
The good news … the Nuggets no longer have to worry about the 1972 Dolphins undefeated record, 82-0 is no longer a possibility for Denver. Perhaps the team will rally around the injury to Kenyon Martin and the absence of J.R. Smith and pull out a win in Atlanta tomorrow evening. Denver holds a 2-1 record on this roadtrip and they get to face an Atlanta Hawks team that just lost by 20 points to the Charlotte Bobcats tonight.
Both teams will be looking to redeem themselves after an embarrassing loss and Ty Lawson will learn a new lesson … in the NBA you have to have a short memory.
Photo courtesy of AP Photos: Mel Evans
