Battered Hornets Beat the Battered Nuggets 99-89

This was yet another game between two teams devastated by injuries (and suspensions in the case of the Nuggets) but this time A.I. fell well below his career scoring accuracy and Boykins and the second teamers were not enough to produce a win against the Hornets. The Camby injury has made the suspension situation twice as bad because the Nuggets have only one "defensive specialist" and Camby is it. One minus one equals zero.

After both second teams produced an entertaining first half, the second half became very bleak, with neither team able to score in the 3rd and only the Hornets able to score in the 4th. After leading 81-76, Denver scored just eight points in the final 9 1/2 minutes. They were out of gas, out of talent, and out of players. The grinch (David Stern) had left them with nothing.

Here was the Hornet's injury toll going into tonight's game:

Chris Paul, PG Sprained right ankle - out 1 week
Bobby Jackson, PG Cracked left rib - out 2-3 weeks
Peja Stojakovic, GF Lower back surgery
David West, PF Arthroscopic surgery, right elbow

These four have provided over 70% of the Hornets scoring so far this season and none of them could play, so this is total devastation.

The Nuggets are now 3-2 in suspension games, and I am reasonably sure they would have been 4-1 over this easy schedule stretch had there not been any suspensions, so tonight was the first "suspension loss". Had the suspensions been kept to a reasonable limit of 5 games, they would now be over, and the Nuggets would have escaped with a one game penalty.

But as we all know, the suspensions are going to drag on for 5 more games (J.R. Smith) and 10 more games (Melo). Am I worried that Iverson is going to go into a slump and cause alot of additional suspension losses? Absolutely not, all players of all skill levels have games when they are that 2 or 3 inches off and so they miss a bunch of shots they usually make. And more often than not, a star player will have this type of game playing a back to back night on the road, which is what this was.

Most of these suspension games have featured one of the second teamers besides Boykins going all out to try to help the team and to try to make an impression. Tonight it was swingman's DerMarr Johnson's turn to try to do the impossible. On 28 minutes, he was 4/13, and 2/7 on 3's for 10 points, and he had 6 rebounds.

On the other hand, swingman Yakhouba Diawara finally figured this situation out and refrained from taking bad shots, and had a decent, very balanced game as a result. He was 5/11, and 2/7 on 3's, and 2/2 from the line for 14 points. He also had 3 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals, and his ball handling and defense were not lacking as in most of the other suspension games.

Najera and Evans each had 10 rebounds. Johnson and Sampson had 6 boards each and Kleiza had 5. Not having a dominant rebounder is frequently a sign of a pourous inside defense. (It will probably get very ugly on Sunday night against the Mavericks if Camby is not back by then.)

With Melo out, the Nuggets do not have a forward on the roster who can put up points, thus the Nuggets are currently totally dependent on the Iverson-Boykins duo for the points needed to win suspension games. Tonight, Evans was 4/8, Najera was 3/8, and Sampson did not even put a shot up.

Najera this year is averaging just 2.9 made field goals per game on just 4.9 attempts per game, well below par for a starting forward. He has failed to rise to the challenge of the loss of K-Mart for the season. And with Camby/Melo/J.R. out, it is his responsibility to step up, but it is not happening.

Boykins, who I now think of as Iverson #2, is as dependable these days as a timex watch, but he can only do so much with his 5'5" frame. He was 10/22, 2/7 on 3's, and 4/5 from the line for 26 points. He also had 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and a steal. It now seems obvious that he does not have an extra gear that he can shift into in a problem situation like this game, so that he all of a sudden goes to the hoop more and takes more shots in general. The Iverson high gears were not available this game.

The Nuggets achieved no flow at all, but how can you achieve any flow to the game if every new squad on the floor has almost never been seen before? It's not just Iverson, but also Boykins who is unfamiliar with these squads. Where is Diawara going to cut to? Is Evans going to box out his man? Is DerMarr Johnson going to put up a three or cut to the basket? Is Najera finally going to take an open shot when he should? No one knows the answers; there are no obvious or easy plays to be run on a devastated team. Every play is a new adventure.

A.I. was 6/22, and 0/2 on 3's and 9/10 on threes for 21 points, and he added 3 assists, 2 steals, 2 rebounds, and a block. His veteran wisdom was there even on a bad night; he was smart enough not to take 30 shots when he knew he wasn't "feeling it". The inexperienced version of Iverson would have ended up roughly 9/30 and the Nuggets would have been routed. Iverson knows when it's best to pull back and live to fight another day.

The next game will be against the top team in the League right now, the Mavericks, on New Year's Eve back in Denver (Sunday night) at 7 pm mountain time.

Had the suspensions been over as they should have been, the Mavs game could have been one of those great basketball classics. As it is, if Camby is still out, it could be very very ugly, unless A.I. gets the magic touch at home again. Hopefully, he will draw energy and performance from a crowd that will want to forget the snowstorms and to enjoy being sick with Nuggets fever.