A.I. & The Nuggets Run the Suns Out of Denver 131-107

"A.I. likes to play." That's how George Karl should answer if he gets someone asking him why he was left in this blowout until 3:39 left with the Nuggets leading by 31. I remember once the coach at my University was asked that same question after a blowout about the top player still being in the game late and he answered "kid likes to play." That shut that question down. Melo was pulled with 10 minutes to go. He likes his team to play well even more than he likes himself to play well, so I guess it makes sense he would come out alot earlier. But since Kobe Bryant scored 65 points last night, Melo's lead over Bryant in the scoring race is down to almost nothing.

I'll say A.I. likes to play. In a throwback to the storybook land of his early years with the Sixers, A.I. exploded for 44 points on incredible 16/22 shooting. He made 10/15 jumpers overall, and 2/3 from beyond the arc. He had 15 assists of the Nuggets amazing 35, and drew numerous fouls, including one from Nash from beyond the arc, and yes, he made all three free throws from that. A.I. was even more everywhere than usual, and with relentless sunk jumpers, aggressive drives to and all around the hoop, virtually no turnovers, and pesky defense, drove Steve Nash and Raja Bell in particular up the wall. PG Nash, the official spokesman of the Suns, had to publicly admit that there was no way the Suns could possibly have beaten the Nuggets in this game. Raja Bell was rattled, mostly by A.I., into a 5/17 shooting night and a technical.

So led by Iverson, and backed up by immense talent and a will to win that must have been off the scale, the Denver Under Achievers buried the Phoenix Suns in one of the most impressive offensive displays of basketball in Denver since ABA days. I say the Nuggets are the Under Achievers because they exposed themselves that way in this game, their first total blowout of the season. Any team that can shoot .573 and hold the Suns to .444 had no business blowing ten 4th quarter leads this season, and they had no business losing 17 of 36 games at home. Instead of achieving what they could have had they done more playing and less assuming, the Nuggets have made life difficult for their coach and their fans. They have confused the heck out of numerous basketball observers, by frequently playing loose and sloppy, lazy and foolish, and then saying to the world "We were just foolin you guys", by proceeding to beat the bejesus out of the Lakers and the Suns this week.

True, A.I. and Melo were a combined 29/42 for 73 points, which is going to be rare, but Camby was 4/6 on the jump shots he insists on making, and Nene, who is most likely never going to be a good jump shooter, was 5/7 with no jumpers attempted. Even Najera joined the festivities by exploading for 8 points on 3/5 points. (For Najera, that was exploding.) It can only be on a major occasion, like a big holiday, that Najera puts up 5 shots. So here you had almost the entire front court of the Nuggets playing both smart and well, something which seemed about as likely as the Syracuse Orangemen winning the March Madness tournament this year. In pro ball, March Madness was definitely in Denver this week.

The Suns met their much less polished cousins in the run and gun style of basketball, and they were shocked at the intermission that these upstarts from the wrong side of the tracks had scored 70 on them in the half, for a 70-44 lead. The Nuggets shot 68 percent in the first half and the Suns shot just 33 percent. "Why the rudeness of it, just who do these poor kin think they are?" the Suns must have exclaimed at the half. "How can they be killing us, no respectable basketball analyst thinks the Nuggets have a chance to beat us, the Mavs, or the Spurs in the first round of the playoffs?" Maybe so, Stoudemire, Marion, and Nash, but non-establishment analysts still think it is possible, so don't count your chickens just yet.

The Nuggets had two 1-2 punches offensively in this game, with A.I. and Melo providing the big uppercuts and Nene and Camby applying the jabs to cause the Suns to get dizzy and lose their composure in the 1st half. How could the Nuggets not beat the Mavs, the Spurs, or the Suns if they had all of this action going? The Nuggets win any game where Camby hits his jumpers, Nene sticks with layups and dunks, and either A.I. or Melo explode while the other one gets 25 or more. And Kleiza or J.R. Smith stand ready to assist when that forumula is not working quite right, which will be almost always.

George "Scrooge" Karl recently started to worry about his future in Denver, and so he resolved in fear to play just 7 men until J.R. Smith returned, as few as a coach can play without being labelled insane. At one point, intense Nuggets fans including me started to worry that Karl was starting to become delusional. As long as Kleiza doesn't go back to 1-7 games, and as long as J.R. eases back into the flow for the umpteenth time, Karl can feel secure with an 8-man rotation, at least until any one of the 8 gets injured. If there is an injury, Karl's gamble is lost and the Nuggets are in big trouble again. On the other hand, if these eight, who clearly have the skills to go the distance, stay healthy and truly have the heart and desire to go the distance, and not be the Under Achievers any more, then Avery Johnson or Greg Popovich may have these same upstarts from the wrong side of the tracks, and the short end of the popularity contests, come calling when it is Western Conference finals time.

I have gone back and forth on the question of whether it is possible for the Nuggets to upset one of the big teams of the West in the playoffs. I had just gotten totally comfortable with the idea that the Nuggets could not possibly win a playoff series and now this game comes along to mess up the calculations. Now I am back again to simply not knowing whether the Nuggets have a chance or not. From this weeks homestand, you would be forced to say the Nuggets have a chance. But you can not yet forget about all the collapses, turnovers, lazy defense, and 1-7 and worse shooting nights. Oh well, that's why they play the games.

Melo and Camby combined for 5 of the Nuggets 12 steals. Nene had 10 rebounds and Camby and Melo had 8 each as the Nuggets outrebounded the Suns 47-38. Iverson and Blake had 10 rebounds, and you know it has been a heck of a night on the boards when your starting guards get 10 rebounds. Although Blake does not have a great shooting touch, at least he, like Najera, picked up on the explosive atmosphere and did what he usually does, only faster and better; Blake had 8 assists. And there is no one better in the NBA than Marcus Camby in rejecting a layup or a dunk without fouling, and he had 4 blocks in this game, while committing just 1 foul. It is impossible to overstate how great Camby is these days at defending right at the hoop.

Leandro Barbosa from Brazil, who backs up Raja Bell at SG, led the Suns with 22 points on 10/19 shooting. The great Suns center, Amare Stoudemire, was held to 13 points on 4/10 shooting, and the great Suns small forward, Shawn Marion, was held to 12 points on 5/11 shooting.

Alright, Coach, you can calm down and come out from under your seat now. The coast is clear and the odds are back in your favor for coming back next year. And you may get away with your total benching of Evans, Johnson, and Diawara. Apparently, your Under Achievers were just foolin' during all those losses, they were just playing alot of pranks, and they actually are pretty good. The Nuggets have a strange sense of humor, I'll tell you that.

Reggie Evans played for 12 minutes and he was 2/3 for 4 points, and he had 4 rebounds and a steal. Najera played 16 minutes and was 3/5 and 2/2 from the line for 8 points, and he added 3 rebounds, 2 steals, and a block. Kleiza played 19 minutes and was 1/4, 1/2 on 3's, and 2/2 from the line for 5 points, and he had 3 rebounds, an assist, and a steal.

Blake played 38 minutes and was 2/6, 1/1 on 3's, and 0/1 from the line for 5 points, and he had 8 assists and 5 rebounds.

Nene played 17 minutes and was 5/7 and 4/6 from the line for 14 points, and he added 10 rebounds, 2 assists, and a steal.

Marcus Camby played for 28 minutes and was 5/7 and 2/2 from the line for 12 points, and he also had 8 rebounds, 4 blocks, 3 assists, and 2 steals.

Melo played for 32 minutes and was 13/20 and 3/4 from the line for 29 points, and he had 8 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 steals.

A.I. played for virtually the entire game and was 16/22, 2/3 on 3's, and 10/12 from the line for 44 points, and he also had 15 assists, 5 rebounds, and a block.

The next game will be Tuesday, March 20 in New Jersey to play the Nets at 5 pm mountain time.