Iverson Arrives But Kings Get Ugly Win Over Nuggets, 101-96

The up and down rollercoaster of the historic pre-Christmas week for Denver came to an ugly end on Friday evening as the Nuggets were left without a single one of the starters they started the season with and lost to the Kings in an ugly game 101-96. Sacramento was .442 from the field and they had an ugly 20 turnovers. Bibby's slump continued. The Kings didn't need much to win.

The Nuggets actually lost the game on the free throw line. They were a very poor 17/31 on free throws. Evans was only 6/13 and Iverson was only 2/6 from the line.

Allen Iverson came in with 3 minutes left in the 1st quarter and played the entire rest of the game. His 10 assists and reluctance to "take over the game" despite the opportunity to do so may be a clue that he neither wants nor expects the burden of winning games by himself for the Nuggets. It was that burden on the Sixers that led to his leaving Philadelphia. The cautious Iverson didn't shift to one of his higher gears, thus leaving the result of the game in the hands of the second team, and they failed to take a winnable game. The home crowd, suffering from a new condition called "Nuggets fever," would have preferred that Iverson had been a total ball hog if this had produced a win, as it probably would have.

Judging from tonight's Nugget's performance, Iverson moved 1,600 miles west only to be, thanks to Mr. Stern and the K-Mart/Camby injuries, temporarily in the same or worse situation he left in Philadelphia, on a team where a win is about as likely as a blizzard that closes the airport for almost two days. Camby was out with a fractured finger he got during his great game against the Wizards. So it was "Iverson and the Benchers against the Kings" tonight in a game that might have been kind of like a strange movie if it hadn't been so ugly.

The Nuggets followed their uptempo playing style and had plenty of opportunities; the ball just would not go in for anyone except Iverson. The Nuggets were literally trying to steal the game while being massively shorthanded. They had 11 steals, though Iverson, one of the all-time greatest pick-pockets, had no steals tonight. Boykins had 4 steals, Reggie Evans 3, and Nene 2.

Although Nene had just 8 points in 30 minutes, he did have 15 rebounds, the 2 steals, and 2 blocks. Reggie Evans played 25 minutes, was 2/4 from the field, but only 6/13 from the line for 10 points, and he had 11 rebounds, 3 steals, and 2 blocks. Evans has been drawing alot of fouls all season, but missing alot of throws. Kleiza in 25 minutes was just 2/10 from the field, 1/5 on 3's, and 2/2 from the line for 7 points, and he had 7 rebounds.

Najera fouled out with about 5 minutes left in the game, and Nene and Diawara were also in foul trouble as the Denver D continued to draw more fouls than praises. Maybe Camby, otherwise known as "Denver's D," can run a clinic to try to teach pressure defending without fouling. Najera (27 minutes) was 3/7, and 0/1 on 3's for 6 points, and he had 5 rebounds.

If games were always won by whoever expends the most calories, the Nuggets would have won this game. Boykins was all over the place, trying to follow up his big Wizards-killing game on Monday with another rabbit out of the hat win tonight. Even Iverson was amazed at the speed and hustle of Boykins, and wagered it might be best not to get too much in his way. Boykins was 8/23 from the field, 2/7 from 3-point land, and 7/8 from the line for 25 points, 4 less than against the Wizards. He had 9 assists, a huge 4 steals, and 3 rebounds.

Coach Karl's policy on DerMarr Johnson is that he wouldn't get playing time unless hell froze over, but since hell did freeze over during the blizzard, Johnson got 21 minutes and was a respectable 5/11 from the field, and 2/7 on 3's, for 12 points. Johnson did NOT play the klutz defense that many of the Nuggets played tonight, he had 2 blocks and zero fouls. Hopefully hell will freeze over a few more times this season.

The rookie Diawara has been very inconsistent all season; he's had some nice games on short minutes, but a few real dogs. This could have been a breakout game but it wasn't to be as he was a nightmare 3/15 from the field, 0/7 on 3's and 0/2 from the line for 6 points, and he had 4 rebounds. What do you expect when a rookie from France gets a high pressure start due to the Knicks/Stern fiasco. Diawara won't always play like this, but it was way too much to ask him to be some miracle 3-point, defensive specialist rookie. The Nuggets will remain almost totally dependent on J.R. Smith for 3-point shooting.

Iverson started with 3 minutes left in the first quarter and started hitting shots right away. His first two shots as a Nugget:

A. Iverson made a 14-foot fade away jumper in the lane
A. Iverson made a 7-foot jumper in the lane. Assist: R. Evans

Iverson hit on two straight 3-pointers and a jumper in the space of 1 minute late in the 3rd quarter keeping the crowd fired up and giving Denver a 71-69 lead. Iverson was 9/15 from the field, 2/3 on 3's, and 2/6 from the line for 22 points, and he added 10 assists.

The Nugget's 4th quarter was weak, with alot of missed shots and some more missed free throws. Abdur-Raheem had two key blocks in the quarter. Nobody, including Iverson, had the touch in the 4th, so it became impossible to win. The Kings coasted to an easy win.

The next game will be Tuesday December 26 in Denver against the Celtics at 7 pm mountain time.