San Antonio (1-1) @ Denver (1-2)
Starting Lineups
Spurs Stumpted by Nuggets (113-96 Nuggets)
Nuggets Boxscore
Spurs Boxscore
Dermarr Johnson and Kenyon Martin helped start the large lead for Denver, but it was Carmelo Anthony and Marcus Camby who maintained it from collapse.
The Denver Nuggets were booted out of the first round of the playoffs last season by the Spurs, even though the Nuggets took a brief series lead early in the playoffs. Dermarr Johnson scored a season high 18 points while knocking down 3 of his 6 three pointers to help make up for last year's post-season. Carmelo Anthony also knocked down 3 three pointers while shrugging off an early injury. Kenyon Martin had a season high 5 blocks and another monsterous double double of 16 points and 16 rebounds while K-Mart's frontcourt counterpart, Marcus Camby, easily mimicked Martin's performance with a 16 point 18 rebound effort of his own. Dermarr Johnson credits newly acquired swingman Morris Peterson previously from the Toronto Raptors for his fantastic game, despite playing similar positions.
"Peterson had about 13 points and 6 rebounds, so I think there will be some competition between me and him," said Johnson with a slight grin. "In a way, you can say that Peterson was someone who can motivate me to step up my game and play harder because we'll both be fighting for minutes. It'll be a friendly rivalry between the two of us."
The Spurs have unexpectedly dropped to 1-3, despite deepening their bench during the off-season by acquiring guards Nick Van Exel and Michael Finely. Finely and Exel combined for 19 points off the bench, but the Spurs' bench was clearly outplayed by Denver's. Manu Ginobili led all scorers with 22 points and Tony Parker and Tim Duncan both scored 16 points. Duncan was two rebounds shy of a double-double, and 6 of his 8 rebounds came at the offensive end.
"They really suprised us with their shooting," said Duncan. "The Nuggets were really cold from three in their first two games but Morris Peterson really helped open up their offence. Who would have thought that one trade would have made such a huge difference for them. Dermarr Johnson and Carmelo Anthony really found their stroke as well and we let them get going. It was a bad defensive effort."
Denver really pulled away during the start of the second quarter when Dermrarr Johnson had a dunk and a three pointer to spark an 11-2 run. With 3:22 remaining in the first half, Carmelo Anthony hit 3 consecutive jumpers before he landed akwardly on his wrist and sat out for the rest of the second and third quarter. The Nuggets were not hindered by the loss of Anthony, as they steamrolled to a 53-37 halftime lead. Kenyon Martin already had a double double of 14 points and 12 rebounds as Denver outscored (30-16) and outrebounded (16-6) the Spurs in the quarter.
At one point, the Spurs made a mini run and cut the lead to a single digit 68-59 lead, but Dermarr Johnson exploded for 13 points in the third quarter and literally scored on almost every possesion he had the ball. Johnson hit two straight three pointers and hit three freethrows, amd afterwards quickly nailed a turnaround jumper to revive a 14 Denver lead. However, Manu Ginobili scored 12 points and Nick Van Exel ripped apart the Nugget defence by scoring all 10 of his points in the final 3 minutes, including a long halfcourt shot at the buzzer to cut the lead down to 86-79. San Antonio got back into the game by scoring a total of 42 points in the third quarter alone on 70% shooting.
When things were looking bleak for Denver, Carmelo Anthony re-entered the game and helped make a huge Denver push. Both teams shot only 30% from the field in the fourth quarter, but Denver limited the Spurs to only 17 points and Marcus Camby had 5 offensive rebounds in the quarter to help preserve the Nuggets lead. Eventually, Carmelo Anthony found his groove once again and scored 12 points in the quarter, in an impressive sequence where he scored on two three pointers, 4 freethrows and a pull up jumper on 5 consecutive posessions. The Nuggets had pushed the lead back to double digits and it was an uphill battle for San Antonio the rest of the way.
Pictures
Kenyon Martin's agressiveness on the offensive boards helped stomp the Spurs.
Morris Peterson struggled from the field, but was agressive attacking the basket in his debut
Marcus Camby's rebounding kept Denver's lead alive in the fourth
Duncan scored 16 points for the Spurs
Van Exel nails the buzzer beating shot from half court
Ginobili hit a ton of circus shots
Dermarr Johnson elevated to another level this game
Johnson also had 3 steals in the Nuggets win
Andre Miller had plenty of nice alley-oops.....
...Especially this one to Carmelo Anthony who slams one over Bruce Bowen
It looks like Nene's training with Leon Camby paid off as he scored 12 points
Player of the Game
K. Martin
Pts - 16
FG - 7/12
3pt FG - 0/0
FT - 2/2
Rebs - 16
Asts - 3
Stls - 0
Blk - 5
TO - 3
PF - 1