Denver Nuggets vs Los Angeles Lakers – Summer League Action
By Len Nunes
Mar 7, 2014; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Nuggets small forward Kenneth Faried (35) guards Los Angeles Lakers power forward Ryan Kelly (4) in the second quarter at the Pepsi Center. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports
The road travelled by the Denver Nuggets to play the Los Angeles Lakers has not been pretty. I’m not interested in pretty, I’m just interested in beating the Lakers regardless the situation.
Today’s starters: Erick Green, Gary Harris, Carlon Brown (instead of Quincy Miller), Jerrelle Benimon, Denzel Bowles.
GO NUGGETS!
GAME OVER, NUGS LOSE 83-77. Green finishes as Denver’s high scorer but was not on the floor to finish the game (interesting). Harris finished with 18 points. He definitely looked like a guy who has played 5 games in a week. Benimon finished with 17 points and was the most impressive Nugget tonight. Thanks for following along folks, please leave comments below. See you in October!
48 seconds remaining in the game, Lakers up 80-77. A tough call on Will Thomas who took a charge from Randle but the ref disagrees. Instead of Nugs ball, Randle gets a total of 3 points. Could that be the difference tonight? The Nugs are shooting 11/24 from 3 point land.
2:17 remaining in the 4th quarter, Lakers up 73-72. Jerrelle Benimon totally redeemed himself on defense versus Julius Randle. Offensively, Benimon is the Nuggets go-to today.
For as terrible as I look in a basketball jersey, those “sleeved” jerseys the Lakers are wearing are terrible. It’s a T-shirt, not a jersey!
5:34 remaining in 4th Quarter, Lakers lead 65-63. Gary Harris with a defensive steal which sends Benimon off to the races for a nice layup. Benimon hears it from the crowd for not dunking LOL. Remember how I said Benimon was handling Randle quite well defensively, never mind. Denzel Bowles goes 1-4 from the free throw line *shaking head*.
END OF 3RD QUARTER: Lakers lead 56-54. Benimon with a shot clock beating 3 pointer gives a him a double-double on the evening. You know how “different” the Nuggets offense looked last season when Ty Lawson was out with injury. That kinda how the Nuggets offense looks with Gary Harris on the bench. The Lakers have used full court pressure and the Nuggets, particularly Erick Green, are not responding well. Way too many fouls on defense! The Lakers have 24 free throw attempts compared to the Nuggets 13.
Denzel Bowles goes all JaVale McGee and SLAPS the ball into ump-teenth row!
WHAT THE ??? 8 second violation by the Nuggets! Really! Really?
3rd quarter, 5:30 remaining, Nugs up 46-45. Erick Green is stone cold. His only points came off a steal followed by a clear run to the basket. Benimon has guarded the Lakers Randle quite well when called upon. Bowles is playing hard, Brown is not earning any brownie points with me.
HALFTIME TIED AT 43: The Nuggets offense stalls if a third pass is required. Granted, that is somewhat expected being Summer League, just pointing out the obvious. Gary Harris’ 3 ball is money from the corner, not so much anywhere else. Will Thomas collects an offensive rebound, scores and misses the free throw. Ensuing play, Will Thomas commits a defense foul and the Lakers score 2 + 1. It’s little sequences like this that cost teams games (no I’m not a drama teacher).
1:50 remaining in the 2nd quarter Denver LEADING 41-38 – Green has scored 8 points, 4 aided greatly by some good Denver defence. Harris with a highlight reel jumper after a spinarama move. Will Thomas collected the Nuggets first block on defense.
5:59 remaining in the 2nd quarter 36-29 Lakers lead. The Nuggets grasping the idea of defensive help rotations. First four points of the quarter by Denver were scored from the free throw line WOOT WOOT! Ohlbrecht and Harris went 2 for 2 respectively from the charity strip. Back to back threes by Kanacevic and Green have turned this into a game.
KEY STAT FROM 1ST QUARTER: 9 Nugget Turnovers 0 Free Throws Attempted
End of first quarter, Lakers up 29-17. The Lakers are leading because Denver is not making it hard for them to score. The Lakers have been able to get to rim at will. I know its summer league but its frustrating how easy the Nuggets are allowing the Lakers to get to the rim. Offensively, Harris twice attempted attacking the rim. He missed the first time and stepped out of bounds the second time SIGH. Harris’ corner three is working though! Even Demonte Harper tried attacking the rim, got a whistled for a charging foul FACEPALM
2:51 remaining in the first quarter, Lakers up 21-12. Green and Bowles have been on bench replaced by Chris Wright and Tim Ohlbrecht. I jinxed Brown as he missed a three point shot. C’mon boys, attack the paint!
4:33 remaining in the first quarter, Lakers up 16-12. Lakers seem to be attacking the paint while the Nuggets seem content putting up shots. Carlon Brown and Jerrelle Benimon are the only Nuggets entering the paint willingly. Brown already has 3 fouls though. Harris is 2-2 from 3 point land.