A.I. Near Perfect as Nuggets Wear Down Sonics 112-98

There is this old Star Trek episode where Captain Kirk and the Enterprise discover this massive planet eater drifting through space. I'm beginning to think that when Melo and J.R. and Camby return, the Nuggets will become a "team eater," wearing out and demoralizing their opponents to the point of self destruction or surrender. This is what happened to the Sonics tonight. Opposing coaches will say when they see the Nuggets "My god, who created this monster?" The monster was created by the Nugget's owner, the Denver front office, Melo becoming a superstar, Camby, Boykins, and several others playing their guts out, and Allen Iverson wanting to win a Ring more than anything in his life and being one of the best basketball players of all time.

Oh, and we may have gotten an assist from David Stern. David Stern, with his massive suspensions to Melo and J.R., may have put just enough fire under the behinds of the Nuggets front office to seal the Iverson trade before the Celtics or Wolves or somebody else could get their hands on him. So it is possible, though not probable, that Iverson might have gone elsewhere were it not for the suspensions. The Nuggets ended their stubborn resistance to parting with Andre Miller after those historic mega suspensions came down and then the historic deal was done.

Aside from that, it also seems that someone (it wasn't me, I swear) put a really nasty spell on many of the teams that are playing the Nuggets during the long suspensions and the Camby injury. First the Wizards were exhausted from a double overtime on the road the night before. Then the Celtics were without their top two scorers, as well as all their other big veterans. The Suns had all their guys, but they were sent packing because the game was cancelled from the blizzard. That game has now been scheduled for when all Nuggets except K-Mart are supposed to be back from various injuries and suspensions. And it goes on. The next game is at Oklahoma, and that team has recently been totally devastated by injuries. It's getting really creepy.

Tonight the Sonics were without their top two scorers. Strong forward Rashard Lewis (22 ppg) is out 2-3 months with a torn tendon in his right hand. And shooting guard Ray Allen (25 ppg) did not travel to Denver because his fiance had a baby on Wednesday. Center Chris Wilcox was so disgusted with the whole chain of events that he was double t'd and ejected near the end of the third quarter. The Sonics lost their fight after that.

But the Sonics played extremely tight b-ball in the first half, taking everything the loose Nuggets defense gave them, and making the Nuggets pay for a bunch of sloppy turnovers. But in the second half, they could not defend the Answer, who produced one of the best games of his career, an almost perfect display of basketball skill and will to win. The home crowd understandably went crazy, and the Sonics gradually wore out and lost their confidence that they could beat this monster.

Jamal Sampson, a C-F who has had almost no playing time until tonight, played 17 minutes and picked up 9 boards in that short time.

Reggie Evans had 18 rebounds, and Najera just 4, as the Nuggets totally dominated the boards all game long. Evans, who likes to go to the hoop, made 5 of his 6 free throws tonight and finished with 9 points. Najera was 4/4, and 1/1 on 3's for 9 points, and he had 3 assists and the 4 rebounds.

DerMarr Johnson played 29 minutes and he was 3/9 and 1/4 on 3's for 7 points. Other than 7 rebounds, Kleiza's night was a disaster, and he had to be pulled from the game early with 5 fouls and 5 turnovers.

With Nene out again due to the knee, George Karl has essentially run out of players. As a result, Diawara got massive playing time, 38 minutes. He was 2/8, 0/4 on 3's, and 4/4 from the line for 8 points. He also had 4 rebounds and 2 steals. Diawara showed some signs in late November and the first week of December but all the crazy stuff that's happened to the Nuggets recently and his being a starter too soon has taken a big toll on Diawara's game. Obviously, Karl thinks Diawara's game will return when things start to get back to normal, judging from the huge minutes Diawara had.

Many Iverson critics over the years have claimed that A.I. either can not or does not want to play the point. He always could play it, the relevant question was and is whether he wants to play it. And for the Nuggets, he clearly does want to play it. He had 10 of the Nuggets 16 assists.

In games similar to this one earlier this season, with a 10-12 point lead early in the 4th, the Nuggets would frequently have a bunch of turnovers and get torched to the point where they would lose the game. But with Iverson at the helm, there was no way that could happen. Iverson, with an assist from Boykins, broke the spirit of the Sonics, starting with the Wilcox ejection, to the point where the Sonics gave up.

The guy is playing his heart out just because he's happy. Specifically, he's happy to be playing for a team that has more wins than losses (16-10 now), and for a team that has a 10 point lead at the start of the 4th, instead of being 10 behind as was often the case in Philadelphia. It's like 1999-2000 all over again; Iverson is having dream games because he knows that there is a real possibility that this team can land in the finals. A.I. himself said recently that he feels as if he has been reborn.

So our new team captain was 17/29, 1/2 on 3's and 9/12 from the line for 44 points. To go with the 10 assists, he had 3 rebounds and 2 steals.

Earl Boykins has almost become Iverson #2, an even shorter and more improbable version of basketball will to win than Iverson himself. They are almost like soul mates who think and play in a very similar way, though Boykins is ultimately limited by being only 5'5" tall. In just 3 games, Iverson may have found his favorite run and gun partner of his whole career. Boykins was a superb 9/17, 1/2 on 3's and 5/6 from the line for 24 points. He played 31 minutes while A.I. played almost the whole game.

The next game is tomorrow night, (Friday, Dec. 29) in Oklahoma to play the Hornets at 6 pm mountain time.