A.I. Huge, J.R. Back, Still No Melo, Spurs 92 Nuggets 83

Allen Iverson did practically everything possible to put the Nuggets in a positon to steal a suspension victory, but the Spurs had other plans. J.R. Smith returned from a whopping 10-game suspension and played a reasonably good game, but he could not hit on any of 4 extremely critical 3-point shots, and the Nuggets, playing with very little scoring potential in the front court, fell to the disciplined, well-coached, and extremely experienced Spurs 92-83.

The Spurs, who have the aged but still great veterans Duncan and Horry at power forward, were at least a little unsettled in the first half by the explosive and talented guards the Nuggets fielded, and the score at the half was 49-48 Nuggets. But all well-coached veteran teams make halftime adjustments. At the half, the Spurs decided to beat the Nuggets inside rather then attempt to bury them with 3-point shots or to start collapsing on Iverson all the time.

Tim Duncan was repeatedly fouled, but at 3/10 from the stripe, made Shaq look like an expert free throw shooter. But as usual, he chose his shots well and finished with 19 points on 8/15 shooting. Tony Parker (PG) had 26 points on expert 12/21 shooting, and he added 7 rebounds. Ginobili (SG) added 16 and Bowen (SF) added 11 on 5/6 expert shooting. No one had a huge night for the Spurs, who simply executed extremely well and ground out a win against a team basically trying to play without fully professional forwards.

The Spurs came in as the anti-Nuggets: healthy, unsuspended, very experienced, and able to play disciplined ball with few mistakes. None of their aged but still reliable veterans had to do anything flashy to win this one. They all but completely shut down the Denver front court, even keeping Camby's scoring to a single digit, and then waited to see if a team depending almost exclusively on guards could beat their veteran, well-managed basketball powerhouse that has BOTH quality guards and quality forwards. The Nugget's guards played outstandingly well (Iverson), very well (Boykins) and all right (Smith), but as the Spurs calculated, it was not enough for the Nuggets to have a chance.

The Spurs nickled and dimed the Nuggets to death with better execution. They led in rebounding 46-41, led in assists 23-15, led in steals 11-5, led in blocks 9-2, and had just 10 turnovers versus 17 for the Nuggets. To say that the Spurs executed the fundamentals of basketball better than the Nuggets would be an understatement.

And the fact that the Nuggets were technically in the game until late in the 4th quarter was due to the outstanding game that Allen Iverson played. Considering the oponent, this was Iverson's best game since becoming a Nugget.

If someone had been living on the moon for the past 6 months and had just returned to Earth to watch this game, he would have said something like "Boy, that team needs a forward something fierce". Well Mr. Man on the Moon, we have a superstar forward but there is this League kingpin who had a temper tantrum over a minor altercation in Manhattan and dictated that our star forward, our only forward who can light up the scoreboard enough so we can compete with the Big 6 of the Western Conference, sit out for 15 games. That's right, Mr. Moon, he can not play for 15 games because of a stupid altercation. (Are there any intelligent altercations?).

Nene was limited to 15 minutes again because of the knee, and he was 1/5 for 2 points, and he added 4 rebounds and a block. Kleiza played 18 minutes and he was just 1/4 and 0/2 on 3/s for 2 points, and he had 3 rebounds. Najera played 24 minutes, and he was 1/4 and 1/2 from the line for 3 points, and he had 1 rebound, 2 assists, and a steal. And finally, Reggie Evans played just 13 minutes, and he was 1/2, and 2/2 from the line, for 4 points, and he had 5 rebounds. Note that Evans outrebounded Najera 5-1 even though he played little more than half the minutes Najera did.

So all of the Nuggets forwards combined played 70 minutes, or 2 full games for a typical PF, and they had 11 points. Ouch!. This team desperately needs a forward! The front office must be filled with idiots. Oh, that's right, they have that guy who leads the whole League in scoring but was thrown out of the League for 1/5 of the season, my bad. The Denver front office is all right after all.

Camby was hounded and stuffed close to and in the paint all night, and he had just 9 points on 3/9 shooting (3/5 from the line). He had to fight hard for his huge 16 rebounds, and he added 2 assists, a steal, and a block.

J.R. Smith got a loud standing ovation when he was put in half way through the 1st. When he was suspended, he was making critical progress with his game, especially strong to the hoop charges and 3-point shots. He tried to take up where he left off, but the long sit-down and harrassment from the Spurs prevented a big night for him. Smith didn't get many calls despite being repeatedly hammered in the lane. J.R.'s return was for 32 minutes, and he was 5/13, 0/4 on 3's, and 2/3 from the line for 12 points. But he added 4 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals.

J.R. was benched to some extent last year, his second year, in Oklahoma, so he has successfully been through this process of ramping up to full scale starter before, so he will do it again. I am sure he will be gradually burying more and more 3's and polishing his finishes at the hoop in the weeks ahead

Boykins has been so consistent during the 3 1/2 weeks of the suspensions that I am beginning to wonder if he is actually a machine. Maybe he is Mr. Basketball, from the same mold as the Mr. Data of the starship Enterprise. He was 8/14, and 2/3 from the line, for 18 points, and he had 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and a steal.

Iverson had a fantastic game, choosing an almost perfect mix of drives to the hoop and mostly shorter jumpers. It was the kind of game that proves Iverson's determination and ability to play both smart and well, and to complement the rest of the team as well as possible by understanding the abilities and roles of the other players. A.I. gave the Nuggets more than enough to beat the powerhouse under normal circumstances, but it was not possible for him to make up for the massive problems with the forwards. A.I. played a huge 44 minutes, and he was 15/25, and 3/3 from the line, for 33 points, and he added 6 assists even though very few Nuggets were hitting.

The next game will be Friday Jan 12 in Denver against the Rockets at 8:30 mountain time.