The Nuggets hosted the Memphis Grizzlies last night and started off pretty sluggishly. Denver was blown out of the first quarter and allowed 40 points which is inexcusable in any game they expect to win. They did win the game by a final score of 133-123 to improve to 3-0 on the season, but it was closer that the final score reflects.
Denver managed to put up 35 points in the first quarter, so the gaudy 40 points they gave up wasn’t as bad as it appears. Denver took the lead in the second quarter and never looked back although things did get interesting in the final period.
OJ Mayo dropped 40 on the Nuggets (a career high for him) and Marc Gasol added 20, but they really had no answer for Carmelo who finished with a season-high 42 points.
Denver definitely did not play their best game and I think that they took the Grizzlies pretty lightly, even by their own admission after the first quarter. Memphis out rebounded Denver 39-31 but nullified that advantage by committing 20 turnovers to Denver’s 12 and shooting 65.5% (19-29) from the free throw line compared to Denver’s 81.1% (31-37). Rebounds and free throws, they basically determine every game I have watched.
Here are my 3 stars for the game:
1. Carmelo Anthony – 42 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and 1 turnover. Carmelo is on fire this season so far and showing the league he is possibly the purest scorer they have.
2. Chauncey Billups – 22 points, 3 rebounds, 12 assists, 1 steal and 2 turnovers. He was also 3-7 from behind the arc and 7-7 from the charity stripe.
3. Nene – 18 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists and a steal with 1 turnover. Nene can make such a huge impact on this team when he is on. The only issue is that he often finds himself in foul trouble. He was solid last night against Memphis.
Denver travels to Indiana on Tuesday for a pretty brutal 6 game road trip that includes 3 back-to-back game situations.
