Grizzlies Have The Nuggets Number – Once Again

The Memphis Grizzlies don’t win pretty, but they do win and once again had the Denver Nuggets number Sunday night.

They forced 23 turnovers and made a point to shut down the Nuggets g0-to players. Danilo Gallinari, Arron Afflalo and Ty Lawson combined for 15 points on 6 of 16 shooting and eight turnovers as Denver lost to Memphis for the third time this season.

Despite how bad the Nuggets played, they were in the game at the end of the game but a late turnover by Andre Miller killed all of Denver’s hopes.

• Teams are starting to figure out Kenneth Faried, who once again struggled with foul trouble. The Nuggets were -14 with Faried on the floor, but the rookie will learn from these games.
• Despite struggling the last few games, Corey Brewer stepped up his game as he returned to the bench. He hustled and gave the Nuggets energy. Brewer finished with 15 and grabbed a big rebound at the end of the game. He seems to do better coming off the bench than starting.
• Nene didn’t shoot the ball well, but outplayed Grizzlies’ big man Marc Gasol. Nene’s 15 points and nine rebounds was his best game since returning from his injury.

While it was a tough loss for the Nuggets, it also shows they aren’t quite up to the Grizzlies level. The main reason is because Memphis’ core group (OJ Mayo, Tony Allen, Mike Conley, Gasol and Rudy Gay) have been playing together for at least two years. The Nuggets’ core haven’t quite been that lucky, they have been together for maybe a year and injuries have derailed Denver’s unity, but if this squad stays together they should be better than the Grizzlies.

Up next for the Nuggets is the Atlanta Hawks, Denver is 9-1 this season against Eastern Conference teams. However, the lone loss came last week at home against the Cleveland Cavaliers.