March 23, 2012; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Denver Nuggets point guard Ty Lawson (3) passes from under the basket while defended by Utah Jazz forward Derrick Favors (15) during the first half at Energy Solutions Arena. Mandatory Credit: Russ Isabella-US PRESSWIRE

Okay that may be a little much, but in what possibly was the biggest game of the season the Denver Nuggets completely disappeared. Not only were the Nuggets embarrassed on national television, they dropped from sixth in the West to ninth and are currently outside of the playoffs with six games left on the road trip.

Utah Jazz big man Al Jefferson, who has one of the best footwork in the NBA, led Utah’s dominating post game with 23 points. Combined the Jazz big men had 51 points and as a team the Jazz had 64 points in the paint.

On the Nuggets side, arguably their best player Ty Lawson had one of his worst games at the worst possible time. Lawson scored only five points on 2 of 8 shootings and had six turnovers. Lawson’s backcourt mate, Arron Afflalo, had an early exit after being ejected for elbowing Gordon Hayward. Afflalo left the game with 14 points.

The Nuggets defense was once again lacking, but it was the third quarter that completely took Denver out of the game. Utah outscored Denver 27-10 to push the lead to 91-64.

• Al Harrington scored 20 points, grabbing 10 rebounds and hitting three treys. His outside shooting is very valuable for the Nuggets right now – especially with the lack of shooters on the team.
• Javale McGee may have been the Nuggets best player. He was an anchor on defense, blocking two shots, but also scored 11 points and grabbed six rebounds. McGee did struggle with foul trouble, but was the only big man on roster that made an impact on defense.

Barely just a year ago while we were celebrating our nation’s birthday, many Denver Nuggets fans had Carmelo Anthony on the back of their minds.

The Nuggets had just offered Anthony a $64.7 million/3 year deal on June 30 2010, however, four days have gone by and rumors had started to develop that the All-Star forward may have lost interest in playing for the Nuggets. (more…)