| 2012/2013 NBA Playoffs First Round: Game 3 | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
vs |
|
|
1-1 (0-0 at home)
|
1-1 | |
| April 23rd, 2013 – 8:30 PM (MT) | ||
| Oracle Arena – Oakland, CA |
||
| Altitude / ESPN 2 / 950 AM / 104.3 FM The Fan | ||
| Probable Starters | ||
| Stephen Curry | PG | Ty Lawson |
| Klay Thompson | SG | Evan Fournier |
| Jarrett Jack |
SF | Andre Iguodala |
| Harrison Barnes | PF | Wilson Chandler |
| Andrew Bogut | C | Kosta Koufos |
| Notes | ||
| Blogs | Denver Stiffs | |
| David Lee (hip) and Brandon Rush are out | Injuries | Danilo Gallinari (ACL) is out |
| There are unconfirmed rumors of a greater than average crowd at Oracle Arena | Stat | Nuggets must take at least one game in Oakland to regain home court advantage |
The Denver Nuggets committed only 20 fouls in Tuesday night’s Game 2 loss to the Golden State Warriors in Denver. The Dubs committed 36. This stat is courtesy of my friend Ross “Hipster Glasses” Martin, who, imparted this bit of knowledge to Nate Timmons and myself Wednesday night during the post-mortem of the defeat. It was a salient point that I really didn’t take in to account when I wrote my, admittedly, reactionary piece on Wednesday morning. Additionally we had Nate Parham from Golden State of Mind on the Podcast, and he also made some terrific points.
You can listen to Ross, Nate and I break down that game right here.
The Nuggets lost their edge. Their toughness. Their defensive will, in game two. That, however, doesn't mean they played a bad game. In particular, any time you score 117 points on offense you are doing something right. It occurs to me, and both Nate and Ross agreed, that maybe the Nuggets were a victim of a once-in-a-lifetime kind of night … a night where everything goes in. Stephon Curry hitting shots off of one foot and Harrison Barnes channeling the spirit of players who are much better shooters than he will tend to demoralize you. That's what happened to a certain extent (that point was made by Nate Parham).
However, it was Ross who came in with the point about the fouls that is truly the most intriguing aspect of Game 2. After Andrew Bogut crumpled Andre Iguodala to the ground with a semi-illegal pick in the first half, it was over. That one moment (and Kosta Koufos and his “attempt” to foul immeidately afterword) symbolized what was to come more than anything. I’m just going it say it, Nuggets fans, and this will offend some of the more sensitive people who read here but — the Nuggets need a Kenyon Martin esque ass kicking borderline foul to restore order in this series. Just one. Who will be the Kmart in this series? (notice the impact our former player is having with the Knicks right now?? I thought so … stop talking about that contract he signed)
I'm not sure. I do know that a message needs to be sent. All it takes is once. The old axium is you don't foul a jump shooting team. Yeah, that may be true. However if you don't body up and be physical in the playoffs you might as well pack it in. Who will be the person who gives a Dubs player a "message"? Who?
In the grand scheme of things we can all talk about radical adjustments, lineup changes, the sorry state of morals in the American cinema and the color of our underwear — it’s all just talk. The Nuggets scored 117 points with George Karl flailing about trying to find the right lineup combo all game. So that tells you that the Nuggets managed to score that many points while having no consistent lineup. What does THAT say about the Dubs “defense”?
Relax, take a deep breath, and realize that the Nuggets won 57 games in the regular season for a reason. Remember what that reason is? Remember how they got here? You don't need to reinvent the wheel to get top notch results.
This series is just getting started.
***
Twitter: @jmorton78 https://twitter.com/#!/jmorton78
mortonagency@juno.com
