Iverson & Melo Ensure Nuggets Win Over Sonics 114-103

The Nuggets, once again facing elimination from the playoffs and worrying that some really, awful, horrible thing would happen if they do not get in the playoffs, though no one knows exactly what, defeated the Sonics 114-103. There were no 1/7 or worse shooting nights, but instead good shooting across the board. The jump shooting Nuggets hit on a sharp 41 of 74, which is a percentage of .554, whereas the jump shooting Sonics were 36 of 78 from the field, which is .462.

Carmelo Anthony led this jump shooting clinic by making 7 of 11 of them, all from the right side, with 4 of the 7 being very long 2-pointers. Linas Kleiza was 4 of 7 on 3-pointers and 4 of 10 overall, whereas J.R. Smith used his short 10 minutes on the court to make 2 of 4 threes. Allen Iverson missed all three of the long range shots that he hoisted, but make 7 of 11 midrange and short jumpers, with 6 of the 7 of those being midrange jumpers. Finally, Steve Blake hit 1 of 5 long range shots and 5 of 6 midrange and long 2-pointers to complete the lineup sweep. So Denver had no scoring disasters on this night, which is good because George Karl's over reliance on too small a number of players fails if any one of them has a really bad shooting night, which is possible for any of the Nugget's starters and very possible still for Kleiza.

Both squads were very sloppy in the 1st quarter and had numerous turnovers, but both settled down for the 2nd half to play a nicely executed half remarkably free of turnovers. The Nuggets led 28-18 after the 1st, but first the PF Chris Wilcox on the inside and then the PG Earl Watson from the perimeter burned the Nuggets during the second quarter, so it was almost tied at the intermission.

The Sonics were playing without their veteran scoring ace Ray Allen, who is out for the season and is having ankle surgery this week. Earl Watson, the starting point guard, stepped up and proved that he can fill in very well for the big scoring normally provided by Allen. He buried 6 of 15 long range shots and ended up with a career high 28 points on 9 of 20 shooting overall. Rashard Lewis, who torched the Nuggets last Wednesday in Denver for 33 points and 10 rebounds, was not contained in this game either, and he finished with 27 points on 8 of 16 from the field, and he had 9 rebounds as well. Lewis was 5 of 9 from beyond the arc. Overall, the Sonics were 12 of 30 from long range, whereas the Nuggets were 7 of 20, thanks mainly to Kleiza and J.R. Smith.

The Nuggets defense was, as usual, allowing for alot of good looks, especially from long range, but the Sonics without Allen did not have enough shooters to keep up with the Nugget's shooting, and they were badly beaten on the boards. Camby had 12 rebounds, Melo had 9, and Evans, who has had substantial playing time in only 7 of the last 21 games, had 6 rebounds in 19 minutes.

PG Earl Watson, SF Rashard Lewis, and PF Chris Wilcox kept trying to chip away at small Nuggets leads throughout the 2nd half, but neither Allen Iverson nor Carmelo Anthony were going to let the relatively soft Sonic defense stop them from finishing off the Sonics in the 4th quarter. A 12 point Nuggets lead half way through the 3rd quarter was down to 1 point with 6 seconds left in the quarter, but J.R. Smith, with two defenders on him, buried a 35 foot 3-pointer from the near left side and from well beyond the arc at the buzzer for the 3rd quarter. The Nuggets led 84-80 after three quarters.

An early 4th quarter Watson three was more than offset by threes from J.R. and Kleiza, but another Watson 3-pointer reduced the Nugget's lead to just 5 points, at 96-91, with 5:31 to play. Then Melo, who was still under his shot attempt limitation imposed by George Karl at the time, took charge and scored on 3 straight possessions, and it was 102-93 Nuggets with 4:14 to go. A Wilcox dunk was offset by a key jumper by Steve Blake. A little later, Rashard Lewis struck with just over 2 minutes left to make it 105-101 Nuggets. Then Iverson, who started out with cold as ice shooting in the 1st quarter and gradually warmed up as the game went along, as the best veteran players commonly do, closed out the Sonics by himself. First he drove to the hoop and layed it in and added the free throw off the foul on Watson. PG Luke Ridnour missed a three, which was rebounded by Blake, and Iverson iced the game with a jumper in traffic for a 110-101 Nuggets lead with 1:34 left. After Lewis made both free throws off a Melo foul, Iverson hit another tough jumper in traffic for a 112-103 Nuggets lead with a minute left, and that was more than enough to insure the win.

George Karl has now completed his blueprint for the Nuggets for the rest of this season and what we see in this game is another example of how if every one of the small number of Nuggets who are getting substantial playing time refrains from taking alot of poor or forced shots, and if they all keep their turnover count out of the red zone, the Nuggets are able to beat lottery teams without too much trouble. To which I say: big deal. The Karl approach fails to take full advantage of the Nugget's roster, which is necessary if the Nuggets are to have any chance at all against the Mavericks or the Suns in the playoffs, assuming they make the playoffs. Any injury to any of the 7 players who Karl overwhelmingly prefers, A.I., Melo, Blake, Camby, Nene, Najera, and Kleiza, though Kleiza is still on probation so to speak, will leave the Nuggets all but crippled. And the Karl strategy can fail even against a lottery team, as it seemed to last Wednesday against these Sonics, though I am willing to concede that the Nuggets failed Karl's strategy in that game and should have won.

But how can you possibly beat the Mavericks if all players including Melo and A.I. have been warned to limit their shooting, if both J.R. Smith and Reggie Evans are regarded as being more of a liability in a game than an asset, and if Yakhouba Diawara and DerMarr Johnson do nothing but take up space on the bench? The answer is obvious: you can not possibly beat the Mavericks or, for that matter, the Suns, the Spurs, the Jazz, the Rockets, or the Lakers.

And speaking of the Lakers, Coach Phil Jackson, who has won nine NBA titles to George Karl's none, clearly does not believe in shooting limitations or marathon benchings, and his superstar PG Kobe Bryant has left Melo in the dust in the top scorer race, has put himself in elite company in the record books, and has put Jackson's team back in the 2007 title hunt by scoring at will and single handedly rescuing the Lakers from their injury quagmire and their poor shooting younger players such as PG Smush Parker. Yes, basketball is a team game, but as in poker, you are supposed to know when to fold them. Sometimes, you have to rely on your best guy for awhile to get you out of a big ditch, so that you can live to fight in more ordinary ways another day. Meanwhile, Melo, though in no danger of going to the Karl doghouse, is on a leash, and could not possibly go even half as far as Bryant has recently in expanding his scoring role, without encountering the rath of Mr. Karl. So don't expect Melo to explode against the Mavericks in any of the playoff games; he's off the hook in that regard already, regardless of the need.

Evans played 19 minutes and was 1/1 for 2 points, and he had 6 rebounds and 2 assists. Kleiza played 24 minutes and was 5/10, 4/7 on 3's, and 2/2 from the line for 16 points, and he had 3 rebounds, 2 blocks, and an assist. Blake played 31 minutes and was 6/11 and 1/5 on 3's for 13 points, and he added 7 assists, 3 rebounds, and a block.

Nene played 28 minutes and was 4/4 and 0/2 from the line for 8 points, and he had 3 steals, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists.

J.R. Smith played 10 minutes and was 2/4 and 2/4 on 3's for 6 points, and he had an assist, a steal, and a rebound.

Camby played 36 minutes and was 3/5 and 5/6 from the line for 11 points, and he added 12 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals.

A.I. played virtually the entire game and was 9/19, 0/3 on 3's, and 8/15 from the line for 26 points, and he had 7 assists, 4 rebounds, and 3 steals.

Melo played virtually the entire game and was 11/20, 0/1 on 3's, and 10/11 from the line for 32 points, and he had 9 rebounds and a steal.

The next game will be Tuesday, April 3 in Los Angeles to play the Lakers at 8:30 pm mountain time.