The Nuggets beat the Lakers 95-90 and earned perhaps their best win of the post-Melo era here in Denver. Denver got a good effort from every guy they sent to the floor. Danilo Gallinari carried the team in the first half by scoring 18 points,and while he was quiet in the second half, Raymond Felton came alive, scoring all 16 of his point, including 3 for 4 on three point attempts. But the big hero of the game was Kenyon Martin, who grabbed 8 boards and scored 18 points, none more crucial than his put-back of a missed Nene free throw down the stretch to basically seal the Nuggets victory.
What was most impressive of this victory was the defensive effort the Nuggets displayed. This Lakers team scores an average of 101 points a game, and they held them to 90 on 42% shooting. They gave up 28 points to Kobe, but he had to put up 27 shots to do so. There is very little you can do to stop Kobe, but if you're holding him to 37% shooting, you're playing good defense.
The Nuggets offensively only shot 43% from the field, but they hit 7-17 threes for 41%. I can't remember a Nuggets team that could shoot the three this well. We've seen the Nuggets three-point shooting bail them out numerous times in the post-Melo era. The Nuggets have six guys who shoot over 35% from deep (7 if you count seldom used Gary Forbes). Not many teams can say they have six 3 point shooters, if any at all.
And let's not forget Timofey Mozgov! With the Birdman sidelined, Mozgov came in and played a very active game. He played physically and showed his size down low. A little more work with this guy and the Nuggets may have themselves a very good true center.
With the victory, the Nuggets locked up a playoff berth. They sit 3 games behind Oklahoma City, with two games against them remaining. Aaron Afflalo should be back soon, and I fully expect the Nuggets to make a strong push for that 4th seed in the West. If anything, these new Nuggets have proved that they can hang with anyone in the NBA.
No comments:
Post a Comment