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Yeah it was just a bad night for Duncan and Mason to accidentally sit at home.
Nuggets throttle Spurs
By Jeff McDonald
Denver guard Dahntay Jones took a lazy dribble, then a second, then a third, then an 11th and 12th. All the Spurs could do was look at him.
Accustomed to the final horn signaling a moment of sudden jubilation or sudden dejection, what happened to them Wednesday was an anomaly.
By the time the buzzer sounded on a 91-81 Nuggets victory at the AT&T Center, with Jones dribbling out what was left of the clock, the game had long been decided.
Behind 22 points from Chauncey Billups and 21 from Carmelo Anthony, Denver cruised to a 20-point lead in the third quarter that the Spurs never threatened.
The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for the Spurs, their longest of the season.
All three of those victories — over Houston, Sacramento and the L.A. Clippers — came down to the final possession. So did the Spurs' last loss before Wednesday, 82-78 on Nov. 12 at Milwaukee.
The Nuggets, 8-4 overall, are 7-1 since acquiring Billups in a Nov. 13 All-Star swap that sent Allen Iverson to Detroit.
Rookie point guard George Hill led the Spurs with a career-high 20 points, capped by a dunk with 20 seconds to go that brought the Spurs within 10.
Tim Duncan added 12 points and 11 rebounds. It was the lowest scoring performance of the season for Duncan, who sat out the entire fourth quarter with the game no longer in doubt.
The Spurs trailed 50-40 at the half. If they still had a chance to claw back into the game, it came unraveled, quickly and spectacularly, in the third quarter.
At one point in the third quarter, the Nuggets put together a five-point possession — getting a free throw off a Duncan technical foul, another free throw after a defensive 3-second call, and a Billups 3-pointer.
Yeah it was just a bad night for Duncan and Mason to accidentally sit at home.
Its ok, a win in Utah erases tonight. Lets just focus on that!
its in SA, but, UTAh will be even tougher.
Wins against Memphis and Chicago will make up for it.
We've been 'throttled' and 'sunk'.
Nuggets sink Spurs 91-81
By Benjamin Hochman
The Denver Post
SAN ANTONIO — For a night, Tim Duncan was not the best post player in a Spurs game. Really, one could argue that Wednesday, he wasn't the second best, either.
Denver's Kenyon Martin and Nene each played Goliathesque defense and each flirted with double-doubles in the Nuggets' 91-81 victory at San Antonio (5-6).
For the second straight night, Denver's opponent played without two key cogs, and the injured Spurs duo was pretty darn significant — Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili, both out with left ankle injuries.
But the real battle was in the low post, where both teams were pretty healthy. And Denver dominated.
Martin finished with 18 points and seven rebounds, Nene had 16 and nine and Denver won for the second time in as many nights. The first-place Nuggets are now 8-4 and 7-1 with Chauncey Billups in the lineup, illating news to Nuggets faithful. And now, the litmus test is Friday, when the Nuggets travel to Los Angeles to play the mighty Lakers, the team that swept Denver in the first round of the playoffs last season.
For the night, Denver kept the Spurs to just 38.7 percent from the field, thanks to methodical team defense, Denver's forte this season.
As for Duncan, he logged a respectable 12 points, 11 rebounds and six assists in 30 minutes, but without his key backcourt teammates, he was unable to get into a flow. And Denver's defense didn't help his cause, either. Duncan scowled more than he shot. And with 1:21 left in the third quarter, he was slapped with a technical foul. With 29.9 seconds left in the third quarter, Billups swished a 3-pointer, giving Denver a 20-point, 73-53 lead, and Duncan rested on the bench for the rest of the night.
The Nuggets picked up right where they left off Tuesday in Wednesday's first half. The Nuggets' intense defense forced the Spurs to force shots. The result was a pathetic 34.1 percent effort in the first half, good for just 40 points. Meanwhile, the Nuggets tallied 50 first-half points, thanks to double-digit scoring from Martin, Nene and Carmelo Anthony.
In the previous two games, Anthony made just four field goals, and Wednesday he made five, but just like in those other two games, both victories, Anthony contributed in other key ways. On Wednesday, he tallied seven assists while grabbing nine rebounds, tied with Nene for a team high.
The Nuggets' on-court communication has been clear and continuous, perhaps epitomized by one play, early in the third quarter. Anthony held the ball near the top of the key, while Billups was on the left wing. While Anthony controlled possession, he pointed toward a spot on the floor and yelled out a play call. Billups yelled back to Anthony and, suddenly, Billups popped open on the wing, received an anticipated pass and splashed an open 3-pointer.
The Nuggets picked up right where they left off Tuesday in Wednesday's first half. The Nuggets' intense defense forced the Spurs to force shots. The result was a pathetic 34.1 percent effort in the first half, good for just 40 points.
Uh I saw open shots by Duncan, Vaugh, Udoka, Mason, and others missed.
intense defense my ass.
Utah isn't tougher at all..they have a lot of injuries right now, and we match up better with them IMO..
i heard Boozer is injured as well?!
The result tonight was fairly unsurprising. I've thought that if the Spurs could split these games, it would be a net win for them.
But with these understandable struggles -- and I'm not sure that the Spurs would have won tonight with Manu and Tony, unless they could magically help all of the other Spurs find the bottom of the bucket a bit more routinely -- the Spurs go to bed tonight only 1 game back in the loss column in their division. That's actually quite remarkable to me; while it's unlikely that the Spurs will weather this storm with anything close to a lead in the division, they have a great opportunity to end the storm within striking distance of that lead and a top 4 seed.
Spurs will be fine people, once they get Manu and TP back.
And Ian.
And the real Fab and KT.
i cant be too mad about this loss. as long as we beat Utah on Friday. but i was impressed by Hill.
One of those two are gone forever. What are the odds they both come to their senses?
Neither of em are gone forever.
As obstructed said and I agree, neither are in game shape right now.
Theoretically, both missed alot of time that set them back quite a bit.
Not doubting you, I just don't remember anyone agreeing about that. It does make sense, but how long will Tim have to wait for them to get in shape?
?
When they get in shape they get in shape.
I don't understand why people think they understand what Tim is thinking.
I don't understand how you could possibly miss what I meant by so much. What I actually posted was a question about the time it should conceivably take for them to get in game shape, and I don't care as to Timmy's thoughts, but he DESERVES some help on the frontline.
EDIT: And let me add, cuz you feel like being technical right now, it's my opinion that Tim needs another big to step up. Not claiming its fact, that's just what I think.
Billups played 40 minutes in a blowout loss? Carmelo and KMart played about 35 minutes each, and Nene played 33 minutes?
Was this game closer than the score seemed?
Not really. TD did not even play the whole 4th quarter. Georg Karl was just so afraid Spurs bench might one up him
More like Karl played starters in the 4th when his team had a 21 pt lead.
The reason I think it's going to take them a while is because I think KT came back too quickly from injury to try to help the Spurs and still hasn't had any chance to heal up. As an old guy, that's just what I think. Fab doesn't typically play well at the beginning of the season and I don't think he plays as well without Manu. I wish it were different, but that's just the case. His heart thing didn't help, and I'm sure they're being careful with him for a while longer, whether they share that information or not. Some combination of Parker and Manu and Ian will all be back in probably two more weeks so, while it would be nice to have the two of them playing well now, the Spurs can probably survive without it. How good do we feel about Bonner's play so far now?
He must be watching too much Spurs basketball and seen those dramatic finishes we had in previous games.
, i can't fathom his reasoning, besides being a . He seriously had that game one by the last couple of minutes in the 3rd. He could've just let the benches duel, but no, he had to pile it on. I guess better safe than sorry, but imo he overdid it.
Someone else mentioned it on it here before me but it seemed like every damn call was for Denver and against us. IN SAN ANTONIO. what kind of is that? I saw so many of the nuggets hacking at tim at his arms, ball, last time i checked, a good defender is someone who stands his ground and blocks shots or goes for the shot block not hacking at the ball that should be almost all the time an automatic foul. But its cool no worries the Spurs will bounce back. U gotta remember this Denver team did go into Boston last wk and beat them there. And New Orleans lost to a Kings team tonight that we beat.
karl running up the score is so funny.
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