After four days off, it was evident Wednesday night that the Denver Nuggets were rusty.
They came out slowly, with sloppy passing and shoddy shooting—the Nuggets began the game 1-6 from the field and 1-6 from the free-throw line.
Denver couldn't buy a bucket.
George Karl quickly became visibly frustrated as he writhed in his courtside seat.
The Nuggets lacked the two “E"s—energy and effort—and the lowly Kings of Sacramento sported a 51-42 lead as the two teams headed for their Pepsi Center locker rooms.
Whatever Karl cooked up as a halftime speech (and however many four-letter words it included) worked like magic as the Nuggets rolled up an extraordinary 33-20 third quarter and took the lead heading into the fourth.
Stellar step-back shooting by J.R. Smith, highly efficient play by Ty Lawson and whole-hearted hustling by the entire team defensively led the comeback and the eventual lead that would not be relinquished.
Denver's domineering play continued throughout the fourth quarter and the Nuggets obliterated the Kings by 24 in the second half as they cruised to their 13th win in 17 games since the Melo mega-deal.
The windfall win was Denver's fourth in a row, and in each of those victories the Nuggets' second-half production has been paramount.
In the four-straight wins at home against Toronto, San Antonio, Washington and Sacramento, the Nuggets outscored their opponents by an average of 28-23 in the third quarter and an even better 27-21 in the fourth and final stanzas of those games.
That's an outstanding eleven-point difference post-half (55-44), meaning the Nuggets are finishing off opponents, forcefully finalizing games.
Who's been hot for the Nuggets?
During the four-game winning streak, much has been the same for Denver as nearly any Nugget can go off and lead the team in scoring any particular night.
Against San Antonio, reserve forward Al Harrington came alive for his best game of the year, shooting spectacularly for 27 points while grabbing three boards.
Likewise, Chris “Birdman” Andersen enjoyed his best game of the year, soaring for a double-double of 17 points, 11 rebounds.
And the three most consistent players during the steak have been Danilo Gallinari (14 points, 6 rebounds), Ty Lawson (18 pts, 6 assists) and J.R. Smith (15 pts).
Gallinari gallops down the lane drawing fouls and finishing with authority. The Nuggets' most impressive play of the game Wednesday featured Gallinari running the floor with some speed, thunderously dunking on a fast break despite getting fouled in the process.
Smith's timely shooting off the bench has benefitted the Nuggets and he's been playing much more under control as of late.
And the star of the show has been Ty Lawson, the second-year point guard who took over as the starter seventeen games ago when Chauncey Billups was traded away. Lawson's leadership has shown serious strides as he has the reigns to call plays and his chemistry with teammates is evident on the floor.
Many individuals have played well, and the team offense—rotating the ball and fast-breaking—has excelled.
But what makes this Nuggets team special is that while the offense is still one of the most potent in the league, the team defense has been demonstrative.
Denver's D only allowed 96.5 points per game during their current winning streak—they block balls, steal passes and just flat-out frustrate whomever they play against.
It's what makes Denver so deadly against whatever team they match up with in the playoffs (most likely the Oklahoma City Thunder).
Very few teams commit to playing defense in the NBA—the Spurs and Celtics are known for their tenacity and this year the Bulls' D has propelled them to the top of the Eastern Conference.
The new Nuggets' dutiful defense keeps them in games against better teams and their versatility offensively creates complex matchup problems for any opponent.
Simply stated, the new Nuggets are a complete and deep team, one that is finishing opponents when it matters most, in crunch time.
Rich Kurtzman is a freelance journalist actively seeking a career in journalism. Along with being the CSU Rams Examiner, Kurtzman is a Denver Nuggets and NBA Featured Columnist for bleacherreport.com, the Colorado/Utah Regional Correspondent for stadiumjourney.com, a weekly contributor to milehighhoops.com and a contributor to milehighreport.com writing on the Denver Broncos.
Rich also heads up PR for K-Biz and Beezy, a Colorado-based rap group.
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