Nuggets Badly Out Rebounded in Loss to Wolves 99-94

The Nuggets were leading the NBA in offensive rebounding going into this game and the Wolves were just about last, but each team played like the other usually does and the Wolves plastered the Nuggets with numerous second and third chance scores. The Nuggets, who had small leads most of the way but were intimidated on the boards by Kevin Garnett (17 rebounds) and Mark Blount (8 rebounds), fell to the large number of second and third chance Wolves scores and to yet another 4th quarter collapse, losing 99-94.

This was a battle between the two top rebounders in the NBA, Garnett and Marcus Camby, but it was not even close, as Camby had his clock cleaned by Garnett and finished with only 3 rebounds. Just as strangely, Nene had only 2 rebounds and Reggie Evans had just 4. Blake, Melo, and Kleiza led the Nuggets in rebounding with 5 each, in what could only be described as a total domination of the normally powerful Camby-Nene rebounding combination by the normally powerful Garnett-Blount rebounding combination.

Every one of the Minnesota guards except for backup Rashad McCants had miserable shooting nights, so Garnett and Blount had to score as well as dominate the boards if the Wolves were to win, and that is exactly what they did. Garnett had 19 points on 7/14 shooting and Mark Blount had 24 points on 11/19 shooting. Blount, who the Wolves obtained from the Celtics, is playing as a great low post partner for Garnett and his jump shot can be deadly as it was tonight.

Predicting how well the Nuggets will play has become a foolish thing to do and I, for one, have learned my lesson to never try to do it. More generally, being a Nuggets fan is not easy, and is recommended only for those who have alot of experience dealing with surprising bad things popping up out of nowhere in their life on a regular basis. You must keep a tough attitude and not break down and beg the Nuggets for mercy when they follow an outstanding game with another embarrassing choke. Or, more simply, you have to like really nasty rollercoasters.

The Nuggets outshot the Wolves .521 to .452, and were 6/16 from 3-point land versus 3/13 for the Wolves, but the Wolves had 93 shots on goal versus 71 for the Nuggets. To put that in perspective, for the season, the Nuggets are averaging 85 shots per game and the Wolves 78. It's bad enough to lose, but when the other team plays your way and you play their way that really gets the coaches and the fans upset.

The Minnesota fans who braved arctic weather to come to the game saw their team offensive rebound their way to a key win that brings the Wolves fully back into the race for the lower playoff seeds in the Western Conference while the Nuggets, for now, are holding the second from last (7th) seed.

The Nuggets are most likely leading the league in the number of games lost where the losing team had a double digit lead. Perhaps they should try to win some of their games by falling behind on purpose and coming from behind for the win. That may be more than sarcasm, because I swear the Lakers have successfully employed that strategy in a good number of important playoff games during the last dozen years. Fool the other team into thinking they have got the game and then steal the game from them late when they are all comfortable. And seriously, many athletes play better with the extra motivation of trying to get a win from behind.

The Nuggets played relatively error free in the first half, but made more and more errors as the second half went along. The 4th quarter of games is when the Nugget's turnover machine frequently shifts into high gear. In this 4th quarter, Blake lost the ball to PG Mike James, Nene was called for an offensive foul, Melo made a bad pass, Blake made a bad pass, Blake was called for travelling, J.R. Smith was called for travelling, and a Camby pass was intercepted by Garnett. How can you win a close game with 7 turnovers in the 4th quarter? Obviously, you can't unless you have Michael Jordan having a 45 point game or something.

Like a recovering alcoholic who breaks down and goes on a drinking binge, the Nuggets broke down and started gorging themselves on turnovers again, as their coaches who thought they might have broken the terrible habit looked on helplessly in horror. Coaching players to not do things is more difficult than coaching them to do things, but you would think by now the Nuggets would have learned to be more careful and less reckless about moving and passing the ball in the 4th quarter when a game is on the line.

In the fourth quarter, with 2:30 left and the Nuggets leading 90-87, Blount was fouled on a third chance shot by Melo, and he hit both free throws. After Garnett intercepted Camby, Blount made a nice jumper. After a Melo layup, Blount made another jumper, so with 1:28 to go it was 93-92 Wolves. Steve Blake then violated the new "let's not have another 4th quarter collapse strategy" by hoisting a three instead of dishing to someone who could go to the hoop and make a layup or draw a foul. Kleiza got the rebound and he hoisted a long 2, thus also violating the new rule. The rule specifically states that "there shall be no lame jump shots during 4th quarter collapses". This rule was followed closely during the Nuggets 3-game win streak now ended.

The Wolves then chewed up half the remaining time until Randy Foye made a great driving layup with 23 seconds left for 95-92 Wolves. After a full time out, Melo made a driving dunk to make it 95-94 Wolves just when someone, preferably J.R. Smith or Kleiza, should have been shooting a 3 to try to tie the game. Instead, the Nuggets opted to see if the Wolves would miss a free throw after an intentional foul. There was no such luck, as Foye and later Garnett made all 4 foul shots from two intentional fouls.

After the Melo dunk and the Foye free throws it was 97-94 with 14 seconds to go. So J.R. Smith missed a shot from beyond the arc right? Wrong. Ok, so at least the choking Nuggets had their point guard Steve Blake, who in most games can not shoot all that well, take a 3-point shot for overtime, right? Wrong again. What actually happened was that Blake went to the hoop for two points just when the Nuggets needed three. Predictably, Blake's shot was rejected by the collapsing Wolves game closing defense in the paint. George Karl was enraged that a foul was not called, saying Blake had been hacked. But basketball life can be so miserable and unforgiving when your team has a turnover addiction and loses it's mind and also the respect of the refs from the effects of it.

For some unknown and probably a very bad reason, Reggie Evans, the number two Denver rebounder who gets about 8 rebounds per 20 minutes of playing time, was held out of the game and played just 5 minutes. With Camby and Nene taken to the cleaners under the hoop by Garnett and Blount, that was clearly a blunder.

Najera played 18 minutes and was 4/4 for 8 points, and he added 2 rebounds. Kleiza played 27 minutes and was 4/9 and 3/5 on 3's for 11 points, and he had 5 rebounds and two assists.

Nene played for 35 minutes and was 7/11 and 4/5 from the line for 18 points, and he had 2 rebounds, 2 blocks, and 4 steals.

Steve Blake played 40 minutes and was 2/8 and 0/3 on 3's for 4 points, and he had 18 assists, 5 rebounds, and a steal.

J.R. Smith played 23 minutes and took only shots from behind the arc. He was 3/7 on these for 9 points, and he added 4 rebounds.

Marcus Camby played for 36 minutes and was 6/10 for 12 points, and he had 3 rebounds, 2 blocks, and an assist.

Melo played even more than usual, for the whole game except 3 minutes, and was 10/21, 0/2 on 3's, and 8/10 from the line for 28 points, and he added 5 rebounds and 5 assists.

The next game, which will follow the all-star break, will be next Tuesday, Feb. 20 in San Antonio to play the Spurs at 6 pm mountain time.