Denver Nuggets - The Next Level [Game 3 + 4]

I was gone for two days and you have updates gallore? What a blow, man.

Good to see Perko get the second all-time triple-double in the ASG. Seems as if you've found an effective way to get him involved in the offense and still get JR and KD their points. I'm surprised at how sub-par the West is. Along with the unathletic white boys prediction, is Live 10 also predicting an uncompetitive Western Conference in 2020?

Sorry man, I've been playing the hell out of this game at the moment because I have Duke Nukem Forever coming in a few days time (unless it's pushed back again ).

I'm definitely very happy with how the team is going at the moment. Just about everything is perfectly balanced right now with my "Big Three" and I'm hoping it'll stay along that course for a while yet.

And yes, in 2020, the East will rise

Yeah, right now, from the store I get my PS3 games, Live 10 is the cheapest sports game.

GO SPURS

Then I say go for it; just please stick with your Association. I'm sure I speak for most people who post on this thread that we're all proud of how far you've come along with it. Make it your TNL

But yes, if Live 10 is cheap, get it. There's definitely enough nice features to the game to atleast give it a go.

And yes, go Spurs! (I'm a Tim Duncan homer from way back )

Nice to see Chicago on top in the East.

That'd be really something if you could get Perko the MVP and MIP in the same year. No former MIP winner has ever actually gone on to win the MVP award, let alone picking them both up in the same season...in real life, at least.

It is nice to see them on top. If the Wizards don't prevail in the East, I hope it's either them or Detroit.

I've gotten that double before in a previous dynasty with Kenyon Martin, but in this one I think it'll be a lot harder because the competition is greater.

Lovin' the Adrian Young month. Good that you're keeping it interesting for yourself & readers

Thanks X, I always enjoy my little experiments

Perko is turning into the real deal!

That he is; I just wish that Mark Jackson was a commentator in this game so he could spout off generic superlatives about him

5 Game Summary

Denver's streak extended to 7 games after wins on the road against the Warriors and the Lakers. However, that's where the run would end as they dropped their last two games of the road trip to the Clippers and LeSuns. Both losses were by 4 points and the Nuggets credentials for winning close games were questioned, but in the feature game against the Bobcats, they once again proved a point:

Durantula Stung the Bobcats



After two close losses on the road, the Nuggets returned to Denver and picked up an 85-79 win against the Bobcats. Kevin Durant was named the Sprite Performer of the game and he top scored for both teams with 34 points. He also proved to be a pest on the defensive end with 4 steals and a blocked shot. While it seemed that he paled in comparison to his teammate, J.R. Smith was only two points below his season average, scoring 22. Taylor MacKenzie continued to have a good run off the bench with 14 points to be the last of Denver's double-digit scorers.

The Bobcats had 5 players in double figures, but none of them had the venom of the Durantula. All-Star shooting guard Patrick McNamara was the high point man for Charlotte with 19 points. The Luis' (Campbell and Johnston) both added 15, while Kevin Love added to his tally of double-doubles with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Timothy Banks was the 5th to reach two digits with 10.

Charlotte kept up with Denver for most of the game thanks to their offensive rebounding and Denver's subpar shooting night, but after two straight losses, Denver didn't need any more motivation to take care of the Bobcats in the 4th.

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CHA@DEN

DEN: 85 (Durant 34, Smith 22, MacKenzie 14)
CHA: 79 (McNamara 19, Campbell 15, Johnston 15)

Sprite Performer of the Game: Kevin Durant 34 points 4 rebounds 1 assist 1 block 4 steals

Rebounds

DEN: Jordan 11
CHA: Campbell, Love 10

Assists

DEN: Perko 9
CHA: Banks 5

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Last 5 Games

@GSW: 88-62 W
@LAL: 71-61 W
@LAC: 91-87 L
@PHX: 86-82 L
CHA: 85-79 W

The Nuggets are now 49-11 for the season

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Winning the Battle, But Losing the War

J.R. Smith won his battle with Ollie Rose scoring-wise with 35 compared to 24. But Ollie's Clippers came away with the W, and that's what matters the most.

Groundhog Day!

You guessed it, another triple-double for the Kazahkstan Kid. However, this time it was in a loss to Phoenix. 10 points, 10 rebounds and 14 assists should still be good enough for a Sprite Performer of the Game though.

Increased Activity

There is no doubt that Kevin Durant can score, as 29 points against the Warriors would prove. But in this game he also contributed 6 rebounds and 5 steals. KD's value to the team is definitely not 1-dimensional.

Meanwhile, This Guy Still Plays in Denver

I somewhat feel guilty for not giving this guy more love on the offensive end, but against the Lakers, Brandon Jennings had 15 points and 3 assists. His role on the team is somewhat Derek Fisher-esque, but like Fish, he can have his moments.

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Next 5 Games

IND
MIL
NYK
@NOH
@SAN

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Nice to have a few losses every now and then to keep me from getting complacent. Hopefully they won't be followed by too many more though.

Two losses against the Suns and the Clips must be a bit disappointing. Big 3 still getting their numbers, though. It had been a long while since I'd heard about Brandon Jennings, good to see him have his moment against the Lakers.

just please stick with your Association. I'm sure I speak for most people who post on this thread that we're all proud of how far you've come along with it. Make it your TNL

Oh, no doubt. As I said, the plan is posting two more seasons at least.

Nice to see MacKenzie on the scoring guys again.

Bynum throwing another elbow at a guard instead of making a play on the ball.

I disagree Andrew. Look at his arm, I think he is trying to high-five him in a retard way or smt. And the other Laker guy is eating Bynums other arm.

Still reminds me of his elbow/forearm on Barea.

I know what you meant, just wanted to mix it up

Two losses against the Suns and the Clips must be a bit disappointing. Big 3 still getting their numbers, though. It had been a long while since I'd heard about Brandon Jennings, good to see him have his moment against the Lakers.

It's a little disappointing, but it's kinda nice to lose every now and then. There are times where I think I could play this game it in my sleep, then I'd get taken down a peg and be reminded that it's not that easy. Jennings probably doesn't get as much of the ball as he should, but at this point of the game, my point guard regardless of who it is won't be high up on the food chain in scoring.

Oh, no doubt. As I said, the plan is posting two more seasons at least.

Nice to see MacKenzie on the scoring guys again.

Good to hear

I think I'm just beginning to find out how he's most effective. He's got a fadeaway like Dirk and when he's hot, it's impossible for someone defending him to alter that shot.

Bynum throwing another elbow at a guard instead of making a play on the ball.

I disagree Andrew. Look at his arm, I think he is trying to high-five him in a retard way or smt. And the other Laker guy is eating Bynums other arm.

Still reminds me of his elbow/forearm on Barea.

I know what you meant, just wanted to mix it up

To be fair though, this happened before Jennings made the basket, not after

But I tend to agree that it still looks a little cheap.

5 Game Summary

After winning the first two games rather comfortably against Dwight's Pacers and Blake's Bucks, the Nuggets' opportunity to go on a long winning streak was interrupted once again in the 3rd game. This time, they lost by a single point to the New York Knicks in Denver. Despite that minor hiccup, they went on to beat the Hornets and San Antonio (the story to come out of that game might excite some fans of a certain player). Even though the Indiana game was closer, I had to go with the Bucks for the feature:

DeAndre Defeats Blake And Denver Destroys Milwaukee



In the last four encounters Denver have had, they were all decided by 8 points or less. This one would break the cycle as the Nuggets handed the Bucks an old fashion blowout to the tune of 87-63. J.R. Smith co-top scored for the Nuggets with 24 points... who did he share the honour with? If you guessed DeAndre Jordan, you'd be correct. Jordan was the Sprite Performer of the Game with 24 points, 10 rebounds and 2 blocked shots as he won his positional battle against former teammate Blake Griffin, who himself had 20 points and 7 rebounds. Taylor MacKenzie was the third player for Denver to reach atleast 20 points, with another performance to suggest that his best could be yet to come.

The Bucks were awful on the offensive end and a lot of this had to do with Eric Gordon's off night. Usually their leading scorer, he only managed 14. Willie Salisbury scored 11 points and was the last player to reach double figures for Milwaukee.

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MIL@DEN

DEN: 87 (Jordan 24, Smith 24, MacKenzie 20)
MIL: 63 (Griffin 20, Gordon 14, Salisbury 11)

Sprite Performer of the Game: DeAndre Jordan 24 points 10 rebounds 4 assists 1 steal 2 blocks

Rebounds

DEN: Jordan 10
MIL: Griffin 7

Assists

DEN: Perko 7
MIL: Meyer 7

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Last 5 Games

IND: 86-78 W
MIL: 87-63 W
NYK: 76-75 L
@NOH: 91-78 W
@SAN: 88-72 W

The Nuggets are now 53-12 for the season.

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Playing Like It's Personal

There's something about the Spurs that seems to bring out the best of Taylor MacKenzie. He scored a season high 44 points against San Antonio and continues to be a nightmare for them.

The Tale of Seconds

With Perko not pulling off a huge stat line in this summary, you'd think J.R. Smith would have the top headline this time around. But his 31 points against New Orleans will have to deal with being second to T-Mac 2.0. Second in the headlines, MVP voting and scoring championship at the moment.

All-Round Basketball Play (If Only Mark Jackson Commentated In This Game)

20 points isn't a huge tally for Kevin Durant, but 9 rebounds is. KD is continuing to provide the Nuggets with more than just scoring.

No Respect

When Adrian Young came out to play against the Knicks, the New Yorkers showed no respect for his 3 point shot, leaving him wide open on 3 attempts. Even though Denver lost, surely the Knicks have learnt their lesson as Young hit 3/4 from beyond the arc and ended up with 11 off the bench.

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Next 5 Games

TBA

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5 more games then this heads into the last month of the regular season. I'd love another 17 wins, but I think top position in the league will be good enough at this point. An announcement up next then 5 games.

Announcement: James, Durant and Anthony To Be Apart Of ESPN Special

ESPN announced they will be running a special during the free agency called "The Split Decision". On the program, three of the biggest stars on the market in the off-season (LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony) will announce their future on live television. Amongst the speculation, it's believed that Carmelo Anthony could opt for retirement instead of a new team, while LeBron could go ring chasing if the Suns fall short again.

Let's hope the proceeds are going to charity.

Four solid wins in that round, tough break against the Knicks.

That's a cool announcement, and nice week (as usual)

Hope KD and his talents stay in Denver.

Looks like T-Mac 2.0 lives up to his nickname, as the first T-Mac would also tear up the Spurs (see: 13 points, 35 seconds). Judging from the Bucks game, we can assume DeAndre Jordan is a better player than Blake Griffin. Looking forward to seeing which other teams disrespect Young's three-point shot.

Love the Indiana pictures. The Pacers players are all like "I want him ! No, I want him!" Great week.

Is Manu still around? Surely not

Let's hope the proceeds are going to charity.

Four solid wins in that round, tough break against the Knicks.

I'll figure out something

That Knicks game was tough, but I enjoy the close ones no matter what the result is now.

That's a cool announcement, and nice week (as usual)

Thanks Houndy; I just hope that it proves to be an eventful enough off-season.

Hope KD and his talents stay in Denver.

Looks like T-Mac 2.0 lives up to his nickname, as the first T-Mac would also tear up the Spurs (see: 13 points, 35 seconds). Judging from the Bucks game, we can assume DeAndre Jordan is a better player than Blake Griffin. Looking forward to seeing which other teams disrespect Young's three-point shot.

Still remains to be seen, but hopefully he does.

Whenever I think of T-Mac, either that or his dunk on Shawn Bradley in the playoffs crosses my mind. Both unbelievably huge moments by McGrady *sigh* what could have been.

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And there was doubt in your mind about DeAndre Jordan being better than Blake Griffin?

Love the Indiana pictures. The Pacers players are all like "I want him ! No, I want him!" Great week.

It's really surprising because Dwight Howard plays for them now. You'd think he'd be camping in that lane and blocking (or atleast attempting to) Durant's attempt.

Is Manu still around? Surely not

If Manu was still in the game, Rudy Fernandez wouldn't be on my team

Just a random little known fact about this dynasty: I saw Tim Duncan on free agency one year. As tempted as I was to sign him (since he's one of my all time favourite players), I decided that his legacy as a 1 team man should stay in tact. And luckily it did

5 Game Summary

The first 4 games of this summary were an Eastern Conference road trip. Denver went 2-2 over the course of the first 4, but came back home rather concerned of their performances. The two wins they picked up were against Indiana (last place) and Orlando (second last), while they lost against Cleveland and New Jersey (a team coming 9th). They returned home to take home the second seed in the Western Conference, the Los Angeles Clippers:

Denver Extend Mile High Lead in West



The Denver Nuggets claimed an 83-71 win against the Clippers on the back of a 27 point performance from J.R. Smith. Ollie Rose won the point battle with Earl, scoring 29, but the Nuggets won the game, that's what matters in the end. Smith was supported for 4 other players, including Kevin Durant who scored 16. Borislav Perko (12) and Taylor MacKenzie (11) proved to be useful once again, but the real surprise was Robin Lopez. For his 10 point, 10 rebound effort off the bench, he was awarded the Sprite Performer of the Game.

Apart from Ollie Rose, the Clippers had 3 double-digit scorers. The supporting cast was led by Ricardo Carlos, who registered a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Phil Wagner scored 12 and PJ Davis had 10, but they lacked the boost off the bench that Denver received from Taylor MacKenzie and Robin Lopez.

Denver earned their 56th win of the season with this performance and extend their already lofty lead over the Clippers in the West. They remain on 39 wins for the season.

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LAC@DEN

DEN: 83 (Smith 27, Durant 16, Perko 12)
LAC: 71 (Rose 29, Carlos 14, Wagner 12)

Spriter Performer of the Game: Robin Lopez 10 points 10 rebounds 3 assists 2 blocks

Rebounds

DEN: Lopez 10
LAC: Carlos 11

Assists

DEN: Jennings 6
LAC: Rose 6

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Last 5 Games

@IND: 78-72 W
@CLE: 78-70 L
@NJN: 77-72 L
@ORL: 77-66 W
LAC: 83-71 W

The Nuggets are now 56-14 for the season.

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Stating His Claim

J.R. Smith continues to be a strong contender for the MVP trophy and even in a loss against the Nets, he scored 31 points.

KD's Magic Show

Kevin Durant, along with J.R. Smith scored 25 points against the Magic. When you consider that the entire team only scored 77, the importance of KD on the Denver side couldn't be better illustrated.

Not A Triple Double...

...but 19 points and 9 rebounds is a big performance none-the-less.

West Rookie of the Month?

In the midst of an experiment, the Denver Nuggets actually found themselves a decent role player. Adrian Young had 16 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks in the loss to Cleveland.

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Next 5 Games

LAL
SAC
@MIN
@POR
DAL

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Next up will be the monthly report for March 2020. Will the Adrian Young experiment prove to be a success? The results will be up soon.

Sorry to say, but Im happy that you lost to the Cavs But as usual, Smith, KD and Perko beasting it.

Go Adrian And Earl for a new MVP!

Relatively mediocre week scoring-wise, but the two games that you dropped don't matter as they were against East teams and you hold a huge lead over LAC in the West. Holding my breath for Young winning Rookie of the Month!

Not your best five game stretch, but a couple of losses to bad/mediocre teams here and there is far from unprecedented when it comes to history's elite teams. Nice to see Young giving you some productive minutes.

Sorry to say, but Im happy that you lost to the Cavs But as usual, Smith, KD and Perko beasting it.

With the season they had in real life, I completely understand

Both of those guys you mentioned are having great seasons.

Go Adrian And Earl for a new MVP!

Earl is going to have to have a hell of a last month to pick up the trophy, but I'm up for the challenge

The results for Adrian Young's month will be up next.

Relatively mediocre week scoring-wise, but the two games that you dropped don't matter as they were against East teams and you hold a huge lead over LAC in the West. Holding my breath for Young winning Rookie of the Month!

I guess I don't mind losing to the East as much because the West has been so dominant for the previous 10 seasons. Out of the 10, the East have only won two titles all up and the West always seems to have the better players... until now anyway.

Not your best five game stretch, but a couple of losses to bad/mediocre teams here and there is far from unprecedented when it comes to history's elite teams. Nice to see Young giving you some productive minutes.

The losses are somewhat concerning at this stage of the season, but as you said, not completely unprecedented. It's funny because in NBA Live 10, you can just about always get an open 3 with your power forward at the start of every quarter. Young has been the only guy to consistently hit them outside of Michael Beasley and Ty Maximilian.

March 2020 Review

Even though they remained well about .500, March was a month that saw Denver look a little more vunerable than we're used to seeing. The last 3 losses they suffered were at the hands of 3 Eastern Conference teams on the rise. While the Nuggets are miles ahead in the West, there are 4 different teams in the East that look to be serious contenders.

Usually this time the report is about who in Denver has stood out, but with the month the way it was, a telling factor was whose minutes were decreased. Due to a poor shooting spell, Ed Reed has had a significant fall in the rotation, with Patrick Mills the number 1 backup for Brandon Jennings. Patty has the more traditional game for the 1 and with Reed missing shot after shot, there's no real reason for him to be playing at this point of time. With the production of Taylor MacKenzie, Rudy Fernandez has seen a reduction in his playing time as well. But the most recognisable of these absentees has been George Power. He had the entire month off as the Nuggets were looking to prove a point with Adrian Young.

The result? Young did in fact win the West Rookie of the Month. With this outcome, there is a serious question over the rookie talent in the Western Conference. While Young is far from being a scrub player, his statistics would show that his playing time is very limited. With the West talent drain, the East could be set for years of domination. Before that happens though, they'll have to get past Denver or whoever is good enough to beat them.

Monthly Awards

EAST Player: [CHA] Patrick McNamara (20.6ppg 3.2apg 1.1spg)
WEST Player: [GSW] Rudolf Gibson (25.3ppg 4.3apg 1.1spg)
EAST Rookie: [NJN] Nicholas Schneider (11.3ppg 5.3apg 1.5spg)
WEST Rookie: [DEN] Adrian Young (5.1ppg 2.3rpg 1.1bpg)

MVP Race

[LAC] Ollie Rose (24.7ppg 3.9apg 1.7spg)
[DEN] J.R. Smith (24.2ppg 2rpg 1.8spg)
[MEM] Stephen Curry (21.2ppg 5.1apg 1.4spg)
[GSW] Rudolf Gibson (21.6ppg 3.5apg 1.4spg)
[DEN] Borislav Perko (11.7ppg 8rpg 4.3apg)

Standings

EAST

Chicago 50-22
Washington 44-25
Detroit 43-25
New York 41-28
Cleveland 40-30
Toronto 38-31
Philadelphia 38-32
Atlanta 37-35
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New Jersey 34-35
Charlotte 34-38
Miami 29-41
Boston 29-43
Milwaukee 27-44
Orlando 26-43
Indiana 23-45


WEST

Denver 56-14
LA Clippers 39-32
LA Lakers 38-33
Minnesota 38-33
San Antonio 35-36
Houston 34-36
New Orleans 34-36
Phoenix 35-38
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Dallas 34-37
Utah 34-37
Memphis 34-39
Golden State 32-41
Oklahoma City 30-39
Sacramento 29-42
Portland 24-49

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Last month of the season coming up and there are 12 games left. This season's double feature will be against the Sacramento Kings. Two 5 game summaries remaining, one will be posted very soon.

I've been looking at my Ty Maximilian signature lately and I've been thinking; He was a great player, but Borislav Perko could become even greater in the grand scheme of things. So I decided to make #32 a signature. Feedback would be appreciated