I’m not going to spend too much time recapping tonights game per se. Not really needed on a night like this. When Antwan Jamison gets 33 points and hits a crap load a three point shots, you know it’s not your night. For that matter when Jodie Meeks rains 5 first half threes on you (he hit 7 total) and when Dwight Howard breezes to a 28 point 20 rebound night … well you know it’s not in the cards. A great game played by the Lakers and you have to hand it to them. They did it. Here’s the box score below for those who want to see it. The Nuggets have dropped to 8-9 and have suffered their third three game losing streak.
Danilo Gallinari lead the Nuggets with 19 points and looks quite a bit better with his stroke. Jordan Hamilton got extended burn in the second half (mostly due to the Nuggets large deficit) and contributed 13 points. The rest of the Nuggets were, well, tired. Not playing up to standard and just generally poor. Not really much point of rehashing that.
Thorough butt kicking if I've ever seen one.
Lets jump right in to the Nuggets of Wisdom shall we?
What can we say? The Nuggets have now played 12 of their first 17 on the road, and unfortunately this is not going to get ANY better for the foreseeable future. After playing a single, solitary home game against the Toronto Raptors (which they will most likely win) the Nuggets then hit the road for another 5 games. An east coast swing that will take them through Atlanta, Indiana, New York and other formidable destinations. The path looks quite daunting. By that point the Nuggets will have played 17 of 23 games on the road … let that sink in for a bit.
We have several paths to take Nuggets fans. Will we sit here and moan and complain about where the Nuggets are? About firing George Karl? Will we propose a never ending series of highly unrealistic trade ideas from the ESPN Trade Machine in order to magically “fix” what is ailing this team right now? That is the easiest course to take, and I don’t blame you for going that direction.
However, I choose a different path. Any logical person, with an iota of brain function knows that this Nuggets team is INFINITELY better than the way they have played recently. I'm not going to sit here and engage in woe is me pablum and self-flagellation that's usually reserved for the weakest of teams in the NBA. This team is NOT, I repeat, NOT as bad as they played tonight.
So what do we do. We sit back, vent our feelings and move on. With Gallo shooting better and suddenly Jordan Hamilton getting more playing time, things should look up. Ty Lawson will not play as bad as he has. Kenneth Faried will learn to play with energy again. Andre Iguodala will keep being the heart and soul of this team and will keep getting better and better as the year progresses. I flat out REFUSE to cave in to self pity when in our hear of hearts we know this team is better than this. WE KNOW THIS!!
So, Nuggets fans, what are you going to do? Are you going to sit there, quietly tut-tut-ing at your screen while you think of new and creative insults about the team you love? Or are you going to understand, as I DO, that this team is a much better one that we have seen so far this season? Will you cave in to despair? Or will you rise my friends? Will you rise up and lift this team on your shoulders? WILL YOU??!!
JOIN ME NUGGETS FANS! JOIN ME! All is not lost. We have NOT YET BEGUN to fight this NBA fight. We have NOT YET BEGUN to show the rest of the league what we can do. This is NOT over because the best fans in the NBA are in Denver, the best Nuggets fans are DENVER STIFFS READERS!!
It starts next game against Toronto.
To end this recap. Here's a dunk in your f**king grill!
GALLOCOASTTOJAM (via HardwoodParoxysm09)
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Stiffs Night Out! December 9th – Nuggets at Knicks
Come join us at Jakes Food and Spirits!
Twitter: @jmorton78 https://twitter.com/#!/jmorton78
