Nuggets Without A.I. & M.C. Fall Just Short to Suns 113-108

The Nuggets have lost alot of games at home this year, where their record is just 13-13, but this one, at least, was a loss on paper only. The Nuggets won the intangible battle by playing with alot of intensity and spirit, by having most of their players substantially contribute, and by holding the Suns to a 5 point winning margin, despite playing without two of their three best players, Allen Iverson and Marcus Camby, both out with injuries.

With A.I. and M.C. out, it was a perfect opportunity for Melo, who was playing with a finger contusion, to expand the reach of his game. Sure enough, he had a "triple double" with 31 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists. However, Melo continued to be slightly off on his midrange jumpers; had he produced that shot at the same pace he did in November and December, the Nuggets could have won this or taken it into overtime. J.R. Smith had 18 points on 7/13 shooting and the dynamic duo from the early part of the season was back for this game in good form. And Nene staked out the paint and scored on 5/6 layups, 4/5 dunks, and even 3/8 jumpers, though he did not have enough experience to guard the likes of Stoudemire well.

The Nuggets tried to outhustle and nickle and dime the Suns with good execution and heavy scoring in the paint, and they almost pulled off what would have been a monumental upset. Led by Nene, the Nuggets continued to try a tougher brand of defense, although they will probably never be as rough as the Jazz or as skilled as the Rockets on defense. They outrebounded the Suns 48-38 and they ran a great passing game and had 30 assists, with Blake and Anthony getting 10 assists each. And the Nuggets turnover problem was kept under good control in this one.

The Nuggets had the will to win and played almost as well as they could, but fate keeps intervening and removing players from games who the Nuggets need to win. The Nuggets have been routed only three times: in Dallas, in Los Angeles, and in Washington, and only 8 of the 23 losses have been by 10 or more points. 11 of the 23 losses have been very close games, where the margin of victory for the other team was 5 points or less.

The Nuggets have never completely surrendered any game, though they have had alot of defensive lapses and execution problems to get all these losses. Even in the 3 routs the Nuggets have continued to play hard. My point here, though, is to note the importance of the intangible of the will the win, which never leaves the Nuggets, even when they are playing in such a way that they can not possibly win. Or, to put it another way, if you are going to play poorly, at least keep believing you can win; if you play poorly and decide you can't win, then you are completely ruined, and the routs will start to pile up.

Both A.I. and M.C. were undoubtedly and correctly thinking while watching this game that the Nuggets would have beaten the Suns had either one of them been in. Had M.C. been in, C Amare Stoudemire, who had 36 points on 13/17 shooting, would not have had such an easy time of it. And had A.I. been in, the Nuggets would have had his shots instead of the lesser in number and more inaccurate shots from Steve Blake, DerMarr Johnson and Eduardo Najera.

So the Nuggets got a major consolation prize in this one. They indirectly proved that they can beat the Suns, at least at home. Despite being just 4-6 in the last 10 and 23-23 on the season, the Nuggets are still a potential threat when the playoffs begin in late April.

The Nuggets have lost so many home games at this point that, most likely, the best playoff seed thay can possibly get is the 5th, which would still be home court advantage for the opponent, so at this point losing an individual game is not really such a big deal anymore. The top four seeds are going to finish with better records than the Nuggets, the only thing yet to be decided is how much better those records will be. The Nuggets are destined to be without the home court advantage for the first playoff round and probably for any rounds after that as well. They should set their sights on the 5th seed, which is still possible to get.

These ramped up Nuggets had a shocker up on the scoreboard for a while. It was 60-51 Nuggets at the half, and when Diawara sunk a 3-pointer with 10 minutes left in the third, it was 67-57 Nuggets and fans were seriously thinking that they were watching a shocking upset. But then the Suns, who are so talented that they used just 5 players, Stoudemire, Bell, Diaw, Marion, and Barbosa for the great majority of the minutes, threw everything but the kitchen sink at the Nuggets (free throws, layups, dunks, jumpers, and 3-pointers) and it was 81-79 Phoenix at the end of the quarter.

In the 4th quarter, Leandro Barbosa and Stoudemire dominated for the Suns. PG Steve Nash sat out the second half due to inflammation in his right shoulder. This was no problem at all for the Suns, because the backup PG Barbosa is better than many starting point guards. Barbosa had 12 points in the quarter, including two of his 4 three pointers, and Stoudemire relentlessly went to the hoop to get easy layups or trips to the free throw line. When you are playing the Suns, it may seem like you are being nickled and dimed by several good players, but the scoreboard tells the real story, which is that you are being buried by several great players.

It was 105-98 Suns with 46 seconds to go when Steve Blake missed a three-pointer that might have gotten the Nuggets back in it. The Nuggets still did not surrender though, as they committed 5 intentional fouls and narrowed the margin from 7 to 5 by doing so, before time ran out.

DerMarr Johnson played 14 minutes and was 2/8, 2/6 on 3's and 1/2 from the line for 7 points, and he had 3 rebounds and a block. Diawara played 15 minutes and was 2/3 and 2/2 from downtown for 6 points.

Linas Kleiza played 20 minutes and was 4/6 and 1/2 on 3's for 9 points, and he added 9 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 steal. Reggie Evans, who was playing with a right ankle sprain, played for 21 minutes and was 1-2 and 2-2 from the line for 4 points, and he added 9 rebounds, 1 block, 1 assist, and 1 steal. Najera played 26 minutes and was 1/5 and 1/2 from the line for 3 points, and he had 4 rebounds and a steal.

Steve Blake was 2/8 and 0/3 on 3's for 4 points, and he also had 10 assists, 2 rebounds, a block, and a steal.

Nene played a full 32 minutes and was 12/19 and 3/4 from the line for 27 points, and he added 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block, and 1 steal. He is not getting all the rebounds and blocks that Camby gets but on the other hand he more and more is finding it easier to score than Camby does.

J.R. Smith played for 29 minutes and was 7/13, 3/5 on 3's and 1/3 from the line for 18 points, and he added 4 assists, 3 rebounds, and a steal.

Melo was 12/27, 0/2 on 3's and 7/8 from the line for 31 points, and he had 10 assists and 10 rebounds. Anthony aggravated his injury, but postgame X-rays were negative.

The next game will be Wednesday, Feb. 7 in Denver against the Hornets at 7 pm mountain time.