Nuggets roll in Indiana, take roadtrip to New Jersey
The Denver Nuggets cruised to a 111-93 victory last night over a young Indiana Pacers team. The Nuggets got out to an early lead and never looked back as they won their fourth consecutive game to start the season.
The Nuggets held a 30-13 lead after the first quarter as the Western Conference Player of the Week Carmelo Anthony along with Chauncey Billups and Nene got the team rolling early. The bench also played a pivotal role in the win for the first time all season as head coach George Karl was able to rest up his starters for the second half of their back-to-back with the Pacers and tonight’s opponent the New Jersey Nets.
Nene collected countless opportunities in the paint against the Pacers but he failed to capitalize going just 4-10 from the field. The Nuggets need Nene to finish strong at the rim so he can turn foul shots into three point plays and start scoring in the 20′s as he should be almost every night. Nene also collected 13 rebounds in the contest.
The NBA’s leading scorer Carmelo Anthony finished with a season low 25 points, but he was able to get plenty of rest playing just under 30 minutes in the game. Billups also got to rest after collecting 24 points in the game, giving way to the Nuggets new-comers to get some quality minutes.
The only Nugget on the roster to not see action was J.R. Smith who was serving the fourth game of his seven game suspension to start the season. Arron Afflalo received the most minutes off the bench and made the most of it with 15 points. Afflalo showed that he is capable of filling Dahntay Jones role of a year ago. Jones, a new Pacer, enjoyed the game against his former squad with a team high 20 points coming off the bench.
Chris “Birdman” Andersen had a solid night defensively, getting 2 blocked shots and 11 rebounds. Joey Graham also proved to be a solid new addition, posting 9 points and 4 rebounds in 16 minutes of action.
Nuggets rookie guard Ty Lawson saw a surprisingly limited 13 minutes in the game collecting just 4 points. He is clearly still young and developing with a few turnovers but with the starters getting rest it seemed odd to see him get considerably less minutes than Anthony Carter, who also had just 4 points but in 31 minutes of action.
The Nuggets are surely hoping the rest pays off for tonights game in New Jersey where they have struggled in the past. Kenyon Martin should be jacked up to play his former team as he is probably healthier now than he has been since last suiting up for the Nets.
The Nets are just 1-4 heading into tonight’s game and have struggled to score points with the loss of Vince Carter. They will be looking to rebound tonight as the Nuggets will strive for a 5-0 start.
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