The eight game home stand is now over and the Nuggets failed to reach their team goal of 6-2, and finished 4-4 with wins over the Hornets, Warriors, Pacers and Pistons. The four losses coming at the hands of the Heat, Thunder, Grizzlies and tonight to the Hawks.
The Nuggets started out the night playing with a little pep in their step, but it faded fast. Denver held an early 17-12 lead after Gary Harris stripped Jeff Teague and raced the other way for an impressive dunk (check out the plays of the game below). After that however, the Nuggets were outscored 40-22 at the 5:15 mark of the second quarter and found themselves down 52-39.
The Nuggets made a 5-0 run to cut the deficit to eight points at 52-44, but the Hawks just kept on scoring against Denver’s porous defense. At the half it was a 16 point game at 66-50, but the game was essentially over. In Denver’s previous seven games on the home stand, the difference in those wins and losses was just 21 points and 10 points in Denver’s three losses.
Credit the Hawks effort and execution in this one with the 119-105 win; as they get their first win in Denver since December of 2006.
WHERE/WHEN
Pepsi Center – Denver, CO / Jan. 25th, 2016 / Game Number 45
STAR OF THE GAME
Sean Kilpatrick put up his season high with 11 points tonight on 3-5 shooting (1-3 from deep, 4-4 on free throws) in 15 minutes. He missed his career high of 13 points by one bucket; his career high came with the Minnesota Timberwolves back on March 23, 2015 against the Utah Jazz in nearly 20 minutes of action.
Here’s a look at Kilpatrick’s quick release on a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter.
Kilpatrick showed off his driving ability on this play late in the fourth quarter.
PLAYS OF THE GAME
In the first quarter, Nikola Jokic comes up with the loose ball, dribbles behind his back to avoid the Jeff Teague steal and eventually uses a shot fake to find Danilo Gallinari under the hoop for the easy layup — and the early 6-4 lead.
Jokic with the handle and the vision here. #Nuggets pic.twitter.com/MRXJNK1lmC
— Nate Timmons (@NateTimmonsBSN) January 26, 2016
With Teague averaging 10.7 drives per game (seventh in the NBA) and 5.8 points off those drives (ninth in NBA) it was important to disrupt his moves to the rim. Here we see Gary Harris with the aggressive defense, the steal and the high-flying dunk on the other end. Check out where Harris takes off from for the dunk that gave Denver a 17-12 lead.
TURNING POINT OF THE GAME
Once again the Nuggets bad habit of taking a quarter off took its toll. This time it was the second quarter that did the Nuggets in on the night. Atlanta outscored Denver 35-20 in the period by shooting 56.5 percent from the field (13-23) to Denver’s abysmal 19 percent (4-21).
Malone’s Nuggets just couldn’t climb out of the hole they once again created for themselves.
BY THE NUMBERS
With 10:00 remaining in the fourth quarter and the Nuggets down 98-80, they had just a 1.2 percent chance of winning the game.
Well, uh… not really.
Here’s the box score:
From NBA.com
LASTING IMPACT
Jusuf Nurkic played just under seven minutes tonight, with that time coming in the disastrous second quarter. Nurkic recorded a -12 in that span on 1-4 shooting for 4 points (2-2 on free throws). The Bosnian was moving pretty well and looking to block shots at the rim, but was just a little out of sync — which is understandable. If the Nuggets want to make any sort of playoff push this season — as Mudiay indicates — they’ll need Juka to get healthy, in shape and on the same page with his teammates.
WHAT’S NEXT
The eight game home stand is over. The Nuggets head out on a three game road trip, starting Wednesday, Jan. 27th, against the Boston Celtics.
0 Comments (1 conversation)
Focus on Nurkic being a difference for the Nuggets while Jokic plays only 18 minutes and posts an insane stat line. Wake up, you are not the Denver Post. Start making calls for Jokic to be the focus of this team, start calling the awful coaching out. Don’t become irrelevant.
Jokic is not “Mr. Everything” yet; he needs to get stronger to compete defensively to become a 30+min player. The Joker’s confidence is building and we are starting to see what sweet passes and moves that he can make. Nurkic’s bulk is just as important as Jokic’s savvy because the Nuggets need post dominance on both ends of the court.
The real issue is that GM Connelly needs to solidify the roster by identifying who his group of core post players will be…Nurkic, Jokic and Lauvergne are the future and each have a unique skill set with manageable salaries…the trade deadline and draft day will show if Connelly thinks Faried is the long term solution at PF or if they view Arthur’s versatility and salary to be a better fit. Keeping Faried would be a non-issue if Jokic’s potential did not emerge so quickly.
The absence of extended playing time for Nurkic due to injury has delayed the projection of the Nuggets becoming a better defensive team under the direction of Malone, yet considering that for most of the year Denver has started 2-3 rookies/2nd year players each game–Malone has shown he is a very good coach who excels at developing young talent.
I like Jokic a lot, selected him as Second Team All Rookie before the season. He’s been awesome this season – will play more as he earns more trust. All in good time Thomas.