Nuggets Squeak By Grizzlies 111-107

Alan Iverson brushed the dust off his 3-point shot and made 3/6 of them. Nene and his formerly bum knee played 37 minutes, attacked the hoop with a vengeance, and made 9/12 layups and dunks. Camby produced 13 rebounds, 3 blocks, and enough inside defense against a team that is easy to stop from going inside too much. Najera took and made 3 shots rather than one or none, and Blake made 2 shots rather than none.

George Karl's rotating rotations, the crazy season, and poor rookie shooting has Diawara afraid to shoot at all these days, so he was completely out of the offensive picture. And Kleiza missed just about everything, but he was the only one doing that in this one. Johnson was on the bench all game, so obviously he could not produce anything. Three players producing absolutely nothing offensively was the most the Nuggets could afford in this game, and it beats four players producing absolutely nothing offensively which, believe it or not, has happened fairly often since the first of the year.

Melo had another typical Melo game. He got almost all of his layups and dunks against the weak inside defenders of the Grizzlies, but he missed one jumper too many to make his jump shooting average, finishing 5/14 on those. Melo got 33 points on 13/25 shooting to stay substantially ahead of Arenas and Bryant in the race to be the NBA scoring leader.

G-F Mike Miller went on a tear in the 3rd quarter, making five straight shots, 3 of them being 3-pointers. Iverson, who already had sensed that the Nuggets would probably lose with no 3-point shooting at all, responded brilliantly by making two consecutive, emergency threes 28 seconds apart, thus making up for J.R. Smith being out by dong a J.R. Special on the Grizzlies. And to think that people have the nerve to doubt me when I say that Iverson has become a basketball genius over the years.

So the Nuggets, except for Iverson's 3-pointers, played within their ordinary skill ranges which, to the horror of the coaches and the fans, was just barely good enough to hand a loss to the team that is one of two, (the other one being the Celtics), which loses more games than any team in the League. The Nugget's coaches and fans were in distress throughout the razor tight game. It's no fun being a Nuggets fan these days, because we all have the feeling you get if you buy a used car and you hear a loud, clunking noise coming from the engine a few days after you buy it. The Nuggets have become the Clunkers.

The biggest lead the Nuggets ever managed to get was 9 points, way back early in the 2nd quarter. After that, the Nugget's coaches were frequently thinking in the back of their heads about where they would apply for another job if the Nuggets were to lose this one, fail to make the playoffs, and anger the owner enough to fire them all. Fans were thinking in the back of their heads about how they ever started thinking that Denver could compete with the big boys this season and about which team they would have to switch to if the Nuggets lost most of the rest of their games so that it became impossible to say that you are a Nuggets fan in public without embarrassing yourself.

But the Grizzlies, being gracious Southern gentlemen, seemingly said "Here, have the damn game Nuggets, we're after Oden or Durant in the draft anyhow". They settled for too many jumpers late in the 4th quarter, instead of trying to seize the initiative and get some assistance from the refs by charging the net. Although the Grizzlies successfully depended on outside shooting for most of the game, by getting plenty of open looks against relatively lazy Nuggets defenders, in the end they went to that well once too often. Basketball is not kind to teams that get into a shot selection rut for an entire game.

In crunch time, the Nuggets covered a bit better but, more importantly, the Grizzlies overrelied on high pressure jumpers to fall, which is often a failing strategy in tight games. Even the League's best jump shooters, the Suns, usually try to go to the hoop more late in the 4th quarter of close games. And even poor defensive teams, like the Nuggets, defend jump shots better in the last few minutes of a game. If you miss a layup, you often get a second chance shot, or you get to shoot free throws, so that you can stay close in a tight game. If you miss a jump shot, you usually don't get a second chance. Your opponent gets a chance to pull ahead in a tight game, probably by shooting free throws! Finally, going to the hoop more very late in the game reduces the stress level, reducing the risk of a very costly turnover.

The game was tied 103 each with 3:29 to go and the Nuggets had called for time. I hope, but I can't be sure, that George Karl was warning Melo, Iverson, Camby, Nene, and Blake about avoiding turnovers, lame jumpers, and porous defense, which the Nuggets have used time and time again in these situations to lose games. Meanwhile, on the Memphis sideline was Tony Barone, who was installed as interim coach on December 28 after Mike Fratello was fired by the President of Basketball Operations Jerry West (the Laker great). Barone had been Director of Player Personnel, meaning he has been helping to acquire players rather than coaching them, and so he probably did not instruct his players correctly for the decisive 3 1/2 minutes. Either that or he told them to lose on purpose so the Grizzlies have a better shot at Oden and Durant. Just kidding.

In any event, George Karl, despite continuing to refuse to play the only true 3-point shooter available right now, DerMarr Johnson, was, with the assistance of Iverson's emergency 3-point shots, and a clutch jumper by Blake of all players, able to out coach Barone down the stretch. Thank goodness, at least he can out coach a team that doesn't really have a coach.

The Grizzlies were a very solid 8/19 from beyond the arc while the Nuggets were just 4/11. Besides Iverson's 3/6, Melo shot and made one 3-pointer.

The Nuggets, who have been badly outrebounded since the all-star break by the Spurs, the Jazz, and the Mavericks, had to do better against the Grizzlies, who are the worst rebounding team in the NBA. George Karl, however, tempted fate by playing rebounding specialist Reggie Evans for just 7 minutes. Evans had 2 offensive and 5 total rebounds in just 7 minutes. Had Karl benched Evans for the whole game as he did in Dallas, the Nuggets probably would have lost. The Nuggets had 11 offensive rebounds, 2 fewer than their average but 3 more than the Grizzlies had in this game.

But more evidence that the Nuggets came very close to losing their 5th straight is that Memphis shot .524 versus .494 for Denver and had 3 more shots on goal than the Nuggets did, despite the small Nuggets edge in rebounding.

Anthony drew a foul from Gasol and made both free throws, so it was 105-103Nuggets with 3:18 to go. Then Camby fouled Gasol, who made only one of two free throws. Iverson threw up an "emergency 3-pointer" and missed, Gasol rebounded, but then Camby blocked a Gasol jumper and then Nene rebounded setting up the Iverson dish to Blake for his clutch jumper. The Nuggets led 107-104 with 2:16 left. Then Nene fouled Gasol but he missed both free throws, which is very suspicious given that the Celtics and the Grizzlies are most likely to get Oden and Durant as long as they keep losing. I'm just saying it seems suspicious, but don't quote me. I think I am joking but I am not sure I am joking.

With 1:35 to go, Melo made a running a jumper for 109-104 Nuggets and then Damon Stoudamire made another gift to the desperate for a win Nuggets by hoisting an ill-advised jumper, which was off. After that, everybody on both sides missed. Iverson missed another three and Camby missed a jumper for the Nuggets, while Gasol, Miller, and Gay missed for Memphis, with the Miller and Gay shots being desperation 3-pointers with just a few seconds to go.

To Nuggets fans who have been hammered with way too many losses during the last few weeks, it was a win that seemed kind of shoddy, because it was a squeaker against one of the worst teams in the League that doesn't really have a coach and that did not play intelligent basketball. The Nuggets could have guaranteed themselves a win if they had simply hustled more on defense. Either the Nuggets played down to the level of their opponent, or else they are now on the same level as the Grizzlies, who are 15-43. Either way, it's bad news. Overall, this game seemed more like a meaningless break before the Nuggets and their fans start getting hammered over and over again.

Kleiza played 11 minutes and was 1/6, 0/1 on 3's and 1/2 from the line for 3 points, and he had 2 rebounds. Najera played 16 minutes and was 3/3 and 0/2 from the line for 6 points, and he had 2 rebounds. Diawara played for 21 minutes, took and missed one 3-point shot, and had a steal and an assist.

Steve Blake played 27 minutes and was 2/5, 0/2 on 3's, and 2/2 from the line for 6 points, and he added 4 assists and 2 rebounds.

Nene played 37 minutes and was 10/16 and 7/9 from the line for 27 points, and he had 9 rebounds, 2 steals, and a block.

Camby played 34 minutes and was 3/6 and 2/2 from the line for 8 points, and he had 13 rebounds, 3 blocks, 4 assists, and 2 steals.

A.I. played 40 minutes and was 7/18, 3/6 on 3's, and 8/9 from the line for 25 points, and he added 9 assists, 5 rebounds, and 2 steals.

Melo played 42 minutes and was 13/25, 1/1 on 3's, and 6/7 from the line for 33 points, and he had 6 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1 steal.

The next game is Wednesday Feb. 28 in Denver versus the Magic at 7 pm mountain time.