The Nuggets succumbed to the thing that's been chasing them for the last two seasons. The Denver Nuggets lack of size was exposed yet again while playing their arch nemesis.
Here's the game, notes style!
First Quarter:
Watching the game on Altitude. ESPN left a bitter taste in my mouth during their last broadcast of a Nuggets game.
Crowd looks hyped.
Nice give and go with Nene and Carmelo Anthony for the +1. Arron Afflalo follows up with a nice corner three, and then another!!
Annoying amount of Lakers fan….people still booing Melo. Unbelievable. Kobe Bryant gets roaring boos and isn’t playing particularly well so far.
Helter-skelter pace. At the first time out Nuggets up 19-12
Looks like Renaldo Balkman is a healthy scratch.
Ron Artest tries to fake foul Nene. Nice.
I sure hope those are Lakers fans booing Melo
Nuggets go a little cold to close out the period … but Ty Lawson changes that with a nice bucket. Still, the second unit
At the buzzer the Nuggets lead 25-22
Second Quarter:
Al Harrington bricks a three to start the period, but pulls the chair on Lamar Odom on the other end.
Second unit sucking right now. Odom hits at three, Lakers up by two.
Quick time out. Lakers up by two after an impressive steal by J.R. Smith.
Nuggets getting really sloppy. Second unit sucking.
Ty blazes down the court for a layup. Man he is fast. Teams trading baskets right now. AAA hits a nice three.
Lawson hits a jumper and brings the Nuggets within one. Another quick time out by Phil Jackson.
They are REALLY letting them play tonight. Not calling fouls at all.
Lakers go up by three, but Chauncey Billups erases that with a nice drive and +1.
Melo is having a rough shooting night, but recovers with a nice basket on a baseline drive after a great steal on the other end.
AAA hits another three after a great pass by Melo!
Nuggets up 52-49 at the half
Third Quarter:
It's amazing how they frame each Halftime at ESPN. You'd think the Lakers were up by 23.
Melo's three point shot has been off all season.
Nene draws the third foul on Andrew Bynum with 10:04 in the third
Nice pass from AAA to Melo for the easy layup. AAA also hits another three. Five out of six.
Nuggets lack of size is showing big time. Getting pounded in the middle
Bynum gets his fourth foul with 6:17 in the third. He's taken out. Right when that happens Kenyon throws a great lob to Melo for the dunk.
Meanwhile Kobe Bryant hits some ridiculous shots and the Nuggets look out of sorts.
Nuggets have these periods where they forget to move the ball. This isn't Melo's fault, Everyone is standing around. Can't do that against the Lakers.
Kobe is killing the Nuggets this quarter.
Nuggets down by 10 entering the fourth quarter 82-72
Fourth Quarter:
Nuggets start the fourth like they ended the third. Badly
Odom does what could be the worst flop I've ever seen on an Al Harrington drive. Oh my. Then he stays on the floor for "affect". Nice. Good thing the ref didn't fall for it.
Nuggets down by 13. May not be the Nuggets night as Harrington bricks another three.
Lawson is the only guy keeping the Nuggets in shouting distance.
Nene and Bynum get into a scrape after a hard foul by Nene.
Game over Nuggets fans. Lakers took control.
Nuggets make a mini run. Hopefully they can make it a major one. AAA at the line. Makes one
Technical on Melo…He has a legit complaint.
It's getting in to silliness territory. Melo and Kobe get in to it at mid court, and of course Melo gets called for the foul. Predictable.
Garbage time. Nuggets lose
Final score Lakers win 107-97
Recap
Melo is distracted. Fans are leaving early in droves. Season is over.
This tweet came from Andy Feinstein who was at the game. I disagree with part of this. Melo didn't play distracted. In fact you can argue Melo played a typical Melo game. He was inefficient and let Ron Artest get under his skin. I also disagree that the season is over. This loss was indicative of who the Nuggets are, not the "distractions". This loss had NOTHING to do with the Melo situation.
However, this is a perfect essay of what the Nuggets lack, SIZE. Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol made mincemeat of Nene and Kenyon Martin. It's not hard to see why Carmelo was begging for a center in the off season. The Nuggets just arent big enough to overcome the Lakers. While understanding that big men don't grow on trees it can be said that what the Nuggets lack is their biggest weakness. The Nuggets are only able to overcome that size deficiency when they play at a fast pace, and the Lakers had the Nuggets playing slow. Game over.
For what it's worth, Arron Afflalo had a good game, and Ty Lawson showed some good flashes. Yet, our team has a long way to go regardless of Melo being here or not. One thing I can safely say is this particular victory for the Lakers can be just chalked up to the fact that they are simply a better team.
I know it's sacrilegious to say Melo had a point but … Melo had a point. This team will not compete consistently and they definitely won't content without some sort of size on this team. However, you trade Melo and you lose a dynamic "special" player and you can't make up that part very easily. There will come a time when the Nuggets will have both (I really…really hope) but not this season. If/when we trade Melo, it won't be for the forseeable (3-5 years) future.
Snap back to reality.
