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It was the tough week for the Denver Nuggets as they dropped three home games, before finally ending their losing streak in Indiana on Saturday.

• ARRON AFFLALO IS BREAKING OUT OF HIS SLUMP: If there had been one player who has been in a funk for the Nuggets it is Afflalo. The usually reliable shooting guard has struggled with his shooting touch, at least up until Thursday. Afflalo’s struggles had many people wondering if it was worth giving the 26-year-old a $43 million/5-year-deal, but the hard-working captain broke himself out of the slump this week. Going into the contest with the Warriors, Afflalo had missed 17 of his last 24 shots. His season average is a JR Smith-like .432 from the field, which is far less than what he shot last season (.498). But on Thursday, Afflalo scored 26 points and hit 8 of 16 from the field and 5 of 8 from behind the arc. He followed that game up by shooting 8 of 11 from the field and scored 23 points. He has also hit his last 23 free throws.  Continue reading this post »

For the previous week the Denver Nuggets looked like arguably the worst team in the NBA. They lacked energy, they couldn’t play defense or even hit a shots.

However, that all changed on Saturday as Corey Brewer came to the rescue and brought the energy that the Nuggets lacked. Brewer scored 19 points and grabbed five rebounds in his first game back. He provided an energy spark in the second half and held Danny Granger to eight points over the final three quarters. Granger had 18 of his 26 points in the first quarter.

The win snapped the Nuggets’ five-game losing streak and put them back on track. Arron Afflalo, who has been in a funk this season, is also back on track. He posted his second consecutive 20-point game and has hit 16 of his last 27 shots. He also has made his previous 23 free throws.

Ty Lawson started the game being aggressive and it paid off. He finished with 27 points on 10 of 17 shots and had zero turnovers.

The win, however, came at a price as Nene left in the second half due to his heel injury. Before he left he had 11 points on 5 of 9 shooting. He is listed as day to day.

The Denver Nuggets are in the midst of a dreadful five-game losing streak overall, as well as at home. To put it in contrast, it is the longest losing streak for the franchise since 2006 and the longest losing streak at home since 2003. Lets just say the Nuggets have played pretty poorly during their recent slide:   Continue reading this post »

You knew it was going to be one of those nights when it was announced that Chris Andersen and Julyan Stone were going to be in the Denver Nuggets starting lineup.

Andersen made 1 out of 4 shots, missed two free throws and started the game with a very lazy turnover. Stone wasn’t terrible, but he made absolutely zero impact on the game as the Nuggets dropped their fourth straight game.

Denver doesn’t have much time to dwell on Wednesday’s loss, they turn around and host the Golden State Warriors Thursday night.

• Teams have learned how to defend Ty Lawson and the Dallas Mavericks did a good job of keeping the point guard out of the paint and made Lawson into a jump shooter. Lawson did do a solid job controlling the game in the first half, but in the second half he was far less aggressive shooting the ball and dictating the offense.
• Nene made it a point to be more aggressive in this game, attacking the basket and was hitting his jumper. He posted his fifth double-double of the season with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
• Rudy Fernandez seemed like the only player on the team that wasn’t afraid to shoot the ball and he also was the only player on the Nuggets that could hit a shot. He had 17 points to lead the Nuggets, hit a pair of threes and was making things happen all over the floor.
• Arron Afflalo is still struggling with his jumper, but his competitiveness is not. He tried to take the fourth quarter over and continues to work hard on defense. It will just be a matter of time when he can get out of his slump.

Also the Nuggets may be getting some help here soon, Marc Spears is reporting that Wilson Chandler is reportedly going to sign with the Nuggets when his season in China is over.

In just one week the Denver Nuggets went from being the hottest team in the NBA to the walking wounded.

The Nuggets played nearly all of the second half without four starters (Nene, Arron Afflalo, Timofey Mozgov and Danilo Gallinari) and they were also without reserve Corey Brewer.

Gallinari, who was arguably the Nuggets best player and top scorer, is reportedly out for nearly a month. It also sounds like Mozgov and Brewer won’t be available tonight and maybe for Thursday’s game as well.

With Gallinari out, it sounds like Afflalo will move to small forward and there is a chance that George Karl may go with Julyan Stone again to start the game and keep his rotation in tact. There also could be a chance he gives Jordan Hamilton some minutes, especially with how bad the Nuggets shot from behind the arc on Monday.

Karl did go with Kenneth Faried in the starting lineup on Monday and the rookie responded by going for six points and eight rebounds.

George Karl is not getting the respect he deserves.

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It was tough week for the Denver Nuggets as they dropped four out of five games with their own loss coming on the road against the Los Angeles Clippers.

KARL UNDER APPRECIATED: Coaches have arguably the toughest job in the game, they are the first to get the blame when a team loses and the last to get the credit when a team wins. That goes double for George Karl, he has been the driving force to the Nuggets success after the Carmelo Anthony trade and has been the key to the Nuggets starting the season 15-9. And yet there are many fans that continue to believe he is the problem, mainly due to his rotation and also since he is not willing to give rookies Kenneth Faried and Jordan Hamilton playing time. But the bottom line is Karl should get as much credit as criticism, he has helped Danilo Gallinari and Ty Lawson develop their games. And while Gallinari has developed his game, Anthony’s game as dropped after leaving Denver. He has become more reliant on his outside jumper, while Gallinari has done the the exact opposite.  Continue reading this post »

The Denver Nuggets are the deepest team in the NBA, and from the sounds of it they are just going to get deeper. According to numerous sources, Wilson Chandler is optimistic that the Nuggets will offer him a multi-year contract when his time is done in China.

Ken Berger reported that GM Masai Ujiri will soon travel to China to work out a deal with Chandler. Chandler’s team in China should make a push in the playoffs and so he may not be able to return to Denver until March or even April.

In his short time with the Nuggets last season, Chandler averaged 12.5 points and 5 rebounds a game.  It would be interesting to see how Chandler would fit in with the Nuggets plans. Especially with Al Harrington, Andre Miller, Corey Brewer and Rudy Fernandez all getting the top minutes off the bench. Not to mention the Nuggets have two rookies, Jordan Hamilton and Kenneth Faried that barely even see the floor.

Former Nuggets’ forward Kenyon Martin signed with the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday and rumor has it that the New York Knicks may be interested in former Nuggets’ guard JR Smith.

The Denver Nuggets cruised to an easy win over the Miami Heat. They took advantage of a tired Los Angeles Clippers squad and swept their six-game road trip. However, the Los Angeles Lakers continue to be the team that gives the Denver fits. The Nuggets couldn’t pulled out a victory over the Lakers at home and have now lost their previous two at home – ironically both the losses came against the Los Angeles teams.

Denver was able to contain Kobe Bryant, who scored 20 points on 7 of 23 shots. However, it was the Lakers size once again that got the best of the Nuggets. Pau Gasol had 13 points and 17 rebounds, while Andrew Bynum was huge in the paint and scored 22 points and had 10 rebounds.

On the Nuggets side of the ball, Danilo Gallinari and Nene were practically non-existent. Gallinari was 1-for-9, with his only shot being a three-pointer in the first half. He finished the game with only six points and was on the Nuggets bench in the final minutes of the contest.

• Nene once again struggled in the paint, making only 5-12 shots and finishing the game with a subpar 12 points and six rebounds. He missed six of his first seven shots, and finally came on strong late. His dunk late cut the Lakers lead to two, but that was as close as the Nuggets got.
• Al Harrington was by far the best Nuggets player, he led all scorers with 24 points and chipped in eight rebounds as well. He did miss a 3-pointer in the closing seconds that would have given the Nuggets a one-point advantage.
• Ty Lawson in the past was the key to beating the Lakers, but Los Angeles was able to contain Lawson in the second half and Derek Fisher was able to stay in front of Lawson on the final possession.
• Timofey Mozgov had an ugly fall in the second half after he made a fast break basket. Mozgov was helped off the floor by his teammates and x-rays on Mozgov’s rolled ankle came back negative and the big man is unlikely to play tonight against Portland.
• Arron Afflalo’s game is slowly starting to come back. He is doing a better job of working off the ball, getting easy baskets on the fast break and concentrating on defense. He did an admirable job defending Bryant and scored seven points.