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

[Mavs4Life]

HOF for sure , & if it were real he'd most likely be thought of as the best foreign guy in history.

[kibaxx7]

So Ollie left the Clippers and is now in the Big Apple. Interesting

[Cruzerr]

Yep, Perko is a beast. I cant believe it. HOW MAN HOW :d

Nah, good job anyway, but triple-doubles dont win you titles

[Axel The Great]

Out of all people who could have broken Big O's triple-double record, I bet nobody expected it to be someone from Kazakhstan. Nicely done breaking the record, and now that the pressure of that is off, you can start looking ahead towards the postseason. Easy to see Melo is already doing that.

[Kenny]

Awesome stuff. Looks like Perko's finishing the season with a triple double and I'd say the MVP, too.

I hope so. With any luck the Live engine won't throw a curveball and give it to Kevin Durant. He's had a hell of a season, but Perko would pretty much be unanimous in real life I think.

Perko broke the record.. finally

I know, he was being lazy... he should have done it halfway through the season

HOF for sure , & if it were real he'd most likely be thought of as the best foreign guy in history.

I think he would for both as well. Dirk will be the best scorer, but I think Perko would go down as the best. (For some reason I can't help but think of Scottie Pippen when I say that).

Yep, Perko is a beast. I cant believe it. HOW MAN HOW :d

Nah, good job anyway, but triple-doubles dont win you titles

And Perko chooses to rebut that "triple-doubles" statement with 4 rings from 4 seasons and 1 Finals MVP he won while averaging a triple-double in the playoffs

Out of all people who could have broken Big O's triple-double record, I bet nobody expected it to be someone from Kazakhstan. Nicely done breaking the record, and now that the pressure of that is off, you can start looking ahead towards the postseason. Easy to see Melo is already doing that.

I think the only person who would make such an outlandish prediction in real life would be Jalen Rose I hate that he was drafted by the Nuggets

Here's hoping I can finish the season strong

[Kenny]

5 Game Summary

None of the games in this summary were close at all. In fact, the closest game was the Nuggets 13 point loss the the West's 3rd seed, the Mavericks. The biggest win? a 29 point demolition of the Spurs, followed by 28 (Utah) and 24 (Golden State). The closest win the Nuggets had was against the Houston Rockets, hence the reason why it's the feature:

Howard Dominates Houston



For the second time this season, two Nuggets players registered triple-doubles in their 86-70 win against the Houston Rockets. Along with perenial triple-double machine Borislav Perko (10 points, 10 rebounds, 11 assists), Dwight Howard was once again the other player to do it for the Nuggets. His performance was dominant against Bertrand Hofmann, as he had 24 points, 17 rebounds, 10 assists and 4 blocked shots. Howard was the second highest scorer for the Nuggets, with 6-man Taylor MacKenzie proving to be big in Texas once again with 26. J.R. Smith was the last of the double-figure scorers for Denver with 11.

It was a tough night for the Houston Rockets, but Armando Ferrer wasn't shamed with his 22 point, 10 rebound effort. He and Betrand Hofmann (16 points, 13 rebounds) both had double-doubles, but were shadowed in comparison by big nights from their opposing big men. Walt Watters added 14 to what was a pretty disappointing night for the Rockets.

It took 14 years for another pair to get triple-doubles in a game and now the Perko/Howard combination have done it twice within a season, previously recording the feat against the New York Knicks.

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DEN@HOU

DEN: 86 (MacKenzie 26, Howard 24, Smith 11)
HOU: 70 (Ferrer 22, Hofmann 16, Watters 14)

Sprite Performer of the Game: Dwight Howard 24 points 17 rebounds 10 assists 4 blocks 1 steal

Rebounds

DEN: Howard 17
HOU: Hofmann 13

Assists

DEN: Perko 11
HOU: Ellis, Jordan, Moller 5

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Last 5 Games

@DAL: 89-76 L
@HOU: 86-70 W
@SAN: 95-66 W
UTA: 83-55 W
GSW: 84-60 W

The Nuggets are now 66-14

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Will It Be Broken?

With two games left in the regular season, it's looking like Borislav Perko's regular season triple-double record will stand coming into the 2021-2022 season. With another 5 in this round, his streak is sitting at 24, while his overall is 48. Here are his performances:

Vs Dallas: 11 points 14 rebounds 15 assists
Vs Houston: 10 points 10 rebounds 11 assists
Vs San Antonio: 10 points 11 rebounds 10 assists
Vs Utah: 10 points 12 rebounds 13 assists
Vs Golden State: 12 points 18 rebounds 13 assists

St Smitty

Against the Spurs on St Patrick's day, J.R. Smith scored 39. It's nice to see that the veteran can still have a big performance on a special occasion.

Bigger In Texas

Once again, Taylor MacKenzie had an excellent Texas road trip. He scored 29 in Denver's losing effort against the Mavericks, as well as tallying 26 against the Rockets and 21 against the Spurs.

OMFG McGee!

In the blowout against the Jazz, JaVale McGee was allowed to play more minutes than usual, and he cashed in with 17 points and 10 rebounds. The Nuggets centre rotation is looking pretty fierce at the moment.

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The Double Feature

For the last two games of the season, the Nuggets will play the Clippers and then the West's second seed, the Lakers. Both games will be played in the Mile High city.

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With only two games left, the 8th seed will be between the Minnesota, Golden State and the LA Clippers. Who will the Nuggets end up facing in the playoffs?

The double feature will be up next.

[Andrew]

24 triple doubles in a row is just incredible.

[The X]

Have you bought your Perko jersey from NBA.com yet?

I'm thinking that much like the Big O, this will be the only year Perko averages a triple double for a season. It's hard to maintain that sort of play & have everything run through him. Tremendous feat

[Kenny]

24 triple doubles in a row is just incredible.

It is a pretty remarkable stat; I wonder if anyone in real life could replicate it? Wilt's previous record was 8

Have you bought your Perko jersey from NBA.com yet?

I'm thinking that much like the Big O, this will be the only year Perko averages a triple double for a season. It's hard to maintain that sort of play & have everything run through him. Tremendous feat

You know, I almost posted the Perko jersey in the jerseys I want to get thread

And I think you're probably right about that. Due to my circumstances, I was able to play 82 this time around, but I'm thinking now I have a job, simming away games could be the way to go again. If people haven't realised by now, I like to get things done rather quickly and simming games would also make the league a lot more balanced (well, the Western Conference anyway )

Assists never is a problem for Perko, but getting enough buckets with the offensive hierarchy of my team, along with grabbing 10 boards while being teammates with Dwight Howard is challenging.

At worst, I might get a Nuggets shirt with Perko's number on it. 32 might even become my number in real life if I ever end up playing social basketball as well.

[Kenny]

The Double Feature

Because of the fact the NBA season is 82 games long, there's always a double feature at the end of every regular season. This time, both of the teams from Los Angeles came to Denver to face the defending NBA Champions. Here are the games:

Nuggets Destroy Clippers



The Nuggets all but shattered the Clippers playoff hopes with a 94-72 demolition in Denver. Those into nostalgia would have liked this game as the original dynamic duo, Carmelo Anthony (26) and J.R. Smith (20) top scored for the Nuggets. Taylor MacKenzie continued his charge for the 6th man award with 19 and Dwight Howard scored 13. Borislav Perko added another triple-double to extend his streak to 25. He put up numbers of 12 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists to once again be the performer of the game.

Much like their entire season, the Clippers were unable to find any rhythm against the Nuggets. PJ Davies was the best of them, with 18 points, while Dickey Freeman (13) and Lance Travis (11) were the only other notable contributors.

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LAC@DEN

DEN: 94 (Anthony 26, Smith 20, MacKenzie 19)
LAC: 72 (Davies 18, Freeman 13, Travis 11)

Sprite Performer of the Game: Borislav Perko 12 points 13 rebounds 10 assists 1 steal

Rebounds

DEN: Perko 13
LAC: Pearson 12

Assists

DEN: Perko 10
LAC: Freeman, Travis, Wagner 3

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Conley Sinks Nuggets; Perko's Streak Ends



Mike Conley ended up hitting the winning shot as the Lakers went on to beat the Nuggets 80-79. Down by 2, Conley sunk the 3 with 8 seconds left in the 4th. Borislav Perko had the shot to win the game (and get another triple-double) but he missed a contested fadeaway. Conley and Perko (11 rebounds, 12 assists) both ended up with 9 points for the game.

The Lakers were led by Dakota Kane, who scored 20. Regular go-to-man Theo Hadson had a relatively quiet night. His 14 points is almost -9 on his season average, while mercurial point guard Steven MacMahon also had 14.

Although the longest triple-double streak in NBA history ended in this game, the true story of the night ended up being Dennis Da Conceicao. Only playing his 6th game of the season, he picked up a game high 34 points and was named the performer of the game. He showed great improvement on his jumpshot, hitting 3 of 5 from beyond the arc. Taylor MacKenzie's impact off the bench was fairly limited, as he scored 10 and as mentioned before, Perko's 9 points was the next best after that.

The Lakers have now won the last 3 games against the Denver Nuggets.

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LAL@DEN

LAL: 80 (Kane 20, Hadson 14, MacMahon 14)
DEN: 79 (Da Conceicao 34, MacKenzie 10, Perko 9)

Sprite Performer of the Game: Dennis Da Conceicao 34 points 1 rebound 2 assists 2 blocks 2 steals

Rebounds

LAL: Sheehan 13
DEN: Perko 11

Assists

LAL: Hadson, Kane, MacMahon 5
DEN: Perko 12

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Who's Making the Playoffs?

EAST

Philadelphia 52-30
Charlotte 48-34
Washington 47-35
Detroit 45-37
Miami 44-38
Toronto 44-38
New York 42-40
Cleveland 41-41

WEST

Denver 67-15
LA Lakers 51-31
Dallas 49-33
Houston 45-37
Memphis 45-37
Utah 43-39
Minnesota 42-40
San Antonio 42-40

League Leaders

PPG: [MIA] Kevin Durant (23.5)
RPG: [DEN] Borislav Perko (11.6)
APG: [DEN] Borislav Perko (11.9)
SPG: [DEN] J.R. Smith (2.2)
BPG: [LAC] Zach Pearson (2.2)

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Thought I'd get the usual end of season stat post in with the double feature to save some time. Up next will be the season awards, the player review and then the playoffs will begin.

[Andrew]

Tough loss to end the regular season, but I don't think it'll mean much when it's all said and done. I'm expecting some awards coming your way, and a fifth straight championship.

[Axel The Great]

Lakers really have your number, hopefully that won't be the case if you end up meeting them in the WCF.

That's a pretty demoralizing way to end the triple-double streak; relying on one shot not just to keep a record streak alive, but also to win a game. That's a lot of pressure right there.

[The X]

It's probably good that Perko didn't get triple double in season finale, now you can just concentrate on winning title again

[Kenny]

Tough loss to end the regular season, but I don't think it'll mean much when it's all said and done. I'm expecting some awards coming your way, and a fifth straight championship.

I hope I get the 5th in a row, but this playoffs is going to be tough. I could see myself beating the Spurs relatively easily, but there's the potential of another Conference Semi against Houston (always challenging) and then a WCF against the Lakers (if I made it past Houston). But I always like the challenge

Lakers really have your number, hopefully that won't be the case if you end up meeting them in the WCF.

That's a pretty demoralizing way to end the triple-double streak; relying on one shot not just to keep a record streak alive, but also to win a game. That's a lot of pressure right there.

It'd be interesting to meet them in the WCF because it's the one series I think I'd really struggle in. And as much as it sucks to have the streak broken, I'm kinda glad it is because it was like this thing I had to constantly try and keep up. In the end, I was thinking more about Perko's numbers than winning the game and that's not really a good thing. Now I can just focus on winning as the priority.

It's probably good that Perko didn't get triple double in season finale, now you can just concentrate on winning title again

Exactly my thoughts as well. In the playoffs, I'll probably still run the majority of plays through him (since that's basically my style now) but I think I might focus on having Howard grab most of the boards. I'm guessing Perko will still have pretty good numbers in the playoffs though.

[Kenny]

Awards And Team Selections

Perko Wins Big One; T-Mac and Karl Also Honoured

It could be said that this MVP race was between two competitors, but in the end, it was hard to ignore Perko's historic season. He broke several records regarding triple-doubles and was the linchpin of the Denver Nuggets franchise.

Taylor MacKenzie's outstanding play off the bench saw him pick up the award for 6th Man of the Year. With J.R. Smith missing a chunk of the season and Carmelo Anthony being inconsistent, T-Mac helped bridge the gap on many occasions and even put up an incredible 50 point game against the Detroit Pistons.

And of course, where would the team be without George Karl? He's been the one constant presense this team has had through the entire dynasty run.

Awards

MVP: [DEN] Borislav Perko

Rather than describe, I'll simply list:

-Most triple-doubles in a season (49)
-Longest triple-double streak (25 games)
-Led the league in rebounds (11.6) and assists (11.9)
-Second in NBA history to average a triple-double for an entire season
-Second in NBA history to record a double-triple-double (20-20-20)
-Won the All-Star Game MVP

Most Improved Player: [PHI] Eddie Humphrey

Humphrey had a breakout year, averaging 17.1 points per game to help lead his team to the number 1 seed in the Eastern Conference.

Defensive Player of the Year: [NYK] Ollie Rose

After winning the scoring title a season ago, Ollie Rose's value on the defensive end has now been recognised. It's quite interesting because last season, Kevin Durant won this award and this season, he won the scoring title. Him and Ollie have completely flipped the scripts.

Rookie of the Year: [OKC] Caleb Vick

Oklahoma City had a horrible season, but one thing they could be happy about is that Caleb Vick was by far the best rookie in his class. Unlike the MVP trophy, there was nobody near stealing this trophy off him. Averages of 15.8 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2 assists per game are pretty damn good for a rookie in this day and age.

6th Man Award: [DEN] Taylor MacKenzie

The second 6th man trophy for Taylor MacKenzie's collection and it came 8 years after his first. Taylor's career has had it's ups and downs, but he's proven in the past that he's had the potential of being the most destructive scorer in the league. This season, it all came together for him. Coming off the bench, he was second in the team in scoring (15.4) and he often provided that needed pick-me-up when the Nuggets had a slow start to the game.

Coach of the Year: [DEN] George Karl

Following the tradition of the coach with the best record gets the trophy.

Three Nuggets Selected In Teams

Borislav Perko, Dwight Howard and J.R. Smith have all been selected in end of season teams. Both Howard and Perko were picked on the All-NBA First Team, while the latter also appeared on the All-Defensive First Team. Due to his league leading steals, J.R. smith was named to the All-Defensive Second Team for the second time in his career.

Team Selections

All-NBA First Team

[DEN] Dwight Howard
[DEN] Borislav Perko
[LAL] Theo Hadson
[NYK] Ollie Rose
[DAL] Brady O'Leary

All-NBA Second Team
[LAL] Dakota Kane
[DET] Tristan Lehmann
[MIA] Kevin Durant
[PHI] Chuck O'Farrell
[POR] Liam Koch

All-Defensive First Team

[LAL] Dakota Kane
[DEN] Borislav Perko
[TOR] Quint Miller
[NYK] Ollie Rose
[DAL] Brady O'Leary

All-Defensive Second Team

[LAL] Archibald Sheehan
[IND] Alec Snow
[NOH] Hobbes MacDonald
[DEN] J.R. Smith
[BOS] Artemas MacMahon

All-Rookie First Team

[OKC] Caleb Vick
[ORL] Ian Nolan
[CHA] Patrick Vaughn
[PHI] Nach Carlos
[ORL] Larry Boctor

All-Rookie Second Team

[DAL] Charles Thompson
[OKC] Glenn Cole
[ATL] Walt Billups
[SAC] Alan Ford
[CHA] Levi Alexander

[Kenny]

The 2020-2021 Player Review

The 2020-2021 review is here. See what I thought of all 15 players that finished up on the Nuggets squad:

The Starters

Dwight Howard: If Perko was the best player for Denver this season, Howard was arguably second. 12.2 points and 9.3 rebounds a game might be the most modest of his career so far, but he scored efficiently, with the team's best field goal percentage at 60.6%. When the wing options were cold, they had the option of throwing it into Howard and he was absolutely dominant in some games. He will be a key factor of their playoffs success this season and is going to be a priority re-signing in the off-season.

Borislav Perko: Not much more needs to be said, but for the sake of archiving, I will mention his triple-double average: 12.2ppg 11.6rpg 11.9apg

Carmelo Anthony: At times we saw glimpses of Melo's best, but it was the season of a guy who's on the way out. His 14.5 points per game was good enough for third in the team, but with T-Mac on the bench, he was merely a starter by title only. There is no doubt he will vacate this spot next season, whether it's on his terms or not.

J.R. Smith: Earl didn't have the MVP year that he had previous, but when you look at his percentages, he wasn't far off the 50-40-90 season he had in 2019-2020. He was the team's leading scorer (15.8ppg) at 54-36-91... pretty decent numbers really for a guy who had a lot of question marks on him during the season. The playoffs of course will be the true test of where his game is at. He's also off contract post-playoffs.

Patrick Mills: A real surprise of the season, he basically spent the last on IR. He's not a good shooter, but he has the ability to get to the line and is an excellent pick-and-roll player. In the search for a starting point guard, he was the last player people expected to be the incumbent, but he ended up being the answer.

The Bench

Taylor MacKenzie: T-Mac's career was back on track late last season and it continued on into this one. Winning a second 6th man trophy, he's arguably been the Nuggets best scoring option off the bench in this dynasty. He was second in scoring (15.8) and was often the difference between the Nuggets winning and losing.

Ed Reed: Reed's numbers aren't pretty, but no point guard in this team has overly flashy numbers. His role this season was simply to catch and shoot if he was open from beyond the arc. He had a couple of games where he scored big, but for the most part he was pretty quiet. Was one of the many starting point guard options.

JaVale McGee: Minutes behind Howard are often hard to come by, but McGee made the most of his situation. When Dwight was in foul trouble, he played some big minutes and troubled the other team with his length and athleticism. He's arguably apart of the best centre rotation in the league.

Adrian Young: Young is a pretty one dimensional player, but he's good at what he does. He helped spread the floor when he was subbed on for Perko. He's adequate defensively but his lack of offensive post game really makes it hard for him to secure any regular playing time.

Nathan Bing: There were times where he looked close to breaking through, but as a whole, it was a disappointing season for Bing. His shooting percentages ended up being woeful (39.3% FG and 25% 3PT) and he may end up being used as trade bait in the upcoming draft... if any team wants him.

Jakov Branco: Got the minutes backing up Howard at the beginning of the season, but they dried up as McGee joined the team. Good rebounder and shot blocker, but completely lacks an offensive game to make him a regular.

George Power: With his upcoming free agency, it's the end of the road for this once promising forward.

IR

Dennis Da Conceicao: 18.7 points and 1.7 steals per game, along with 57.6 percent from the field and 45.5 percent from beyond the arc... and this guy only played 6 games? Seems like an anomaly... but one that will probably be fixed if he chooses to re-sign with the Nuggets. His game against the Lakers helped his chances of at least getting signed somewhere.

Brandon Roy: Had some great games in J.R. Smith's absense, but as the year went on, he ran out of steam. This season will most likely be his last.

Jesus Carlos: Was highly touted early in the season, but as he became more recognised, the flaws in his game became apparent. When you make Rajon Rondo look like a good shooter, you know you have a problem.

[Kenny]

NBA Playoffs 2021

West | East

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(1) Denver Nuggets Vs San Antonio Spurs (8)

The Teams



The Starters

| Dwight Howard | Borislav Perko | Carmelo Anthony | J.R. Smith | Patrick Mills |

The Bench

| Taylor MacKenzie | Ed Reed | JaVale McGee | Adrian Young | Dennis Da Conceicao | Nathan Bing | Jakov Branco |

IR

| George Power | Brandon Roy | Jesus Carlos |



The Starters

| Ralph Patel | Jamie Mathieu | Alejandro Carlos | Johnny Gibson | Batholomew David |

The Bench

| Jeff Simmons | Rudy Gay | Axel Donnelly | Ethan Boctor | Kerry Hofmann | Maciej Balazs | Edward Piotrowski |

IR

| Wallace Snow | Norbert Brooks | Dennis Anderson |

Keys

Denver Nuggets: There's no ifs or buts about it, Denver have the better overall team, but where the Nuggets can really succeed in this series is in the centre matchup. The Spurs have a makeshift centre in Ralph Patel. Being only 6'9, Patel is possibly seen as the weakest link in the Spurs team and Howard is arguably the best centre in the league. If you add the playmaking abilities of Borislav Perko and Taylor MacKenzie's uncanny ability to overachieve against Texas teams, the Nuggets hold all the advantages it would seem, they just need to use them wisely.

San Antonio Spurs: If there's one matchup on paper that San Antonio have the better of, it's the small forward battle. Alejandro Carlos is at the peak of his game as he was an All-Star starter this season for the West. Carmelo Anthony is a player who is well and truly on the way out. If the Nuggets exploit the centre matchup, this is one that the Spurs will have to up the ante against. The guys off the bench for San Antonio have an important role as well. Rudy Gay, Axel Donnelly and Kerry Hofmann will all be called upon to play some big minutes against the reigning champions. Gay in particular was a thorn in the Nuggets' side for many years, so he could be a real X-Factor in this series.

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Hopefully the first 4 games will be up pretty soon. I tried playing the first but it froze midway through the game... it's been doing that a lot more lately I've noticed

A quick thanks to Lamrock for letting me use his playoffs bracket template.

[Houndy]

Now let's see if Perko can keep it up and lead his team to another title after his helluva year.

[Martti.]

It's now time for Melo and Earl to shine!

[kibaxx7]

Lakers-Wolves, classic playoff series Good luck man! (not really, hope you lose, it's the Spurs! )

[Andrew]

Great to see the game recognise Perko's efforts and give him the MVP. Congrats on breaking the record and making it through the year with the triple double average, awesome effort there. Nice work on the review as always, and best of luck in the first round! I'll go with the Nuggets in a sweep though.

[Mavs4Life]

Mavs Jazz let's go! Can't see anything less than the trophy this year, gotta ive Perko something for his work

[Andrew]

As Scottie Pippen and Ron Harper said in 1996, it don't mean a thing without the ring.

[Kenny]

Now let's see if Perko can keep it up and lead his team to another title after his helluva year.

Here's hoping; it'd be one hell of a season if he can.

It's now time for Melo and Earl to shine!

It'd be nice to have a good finish to the season with them, since it'll probably be the last time they'll play together.

Lakers-Wolves, classic playoff series Good luck man! (not really, hope you lose, it's the Spurs! )

Derrick Rose Vs Mike Conley; epic

And thanks for your "words of encouragement"

Great to see the game recognise Perko's efforts and give him the MVP. Congrats on breaking the record and making it through the year with the triple double average, awesome effort there. Nice work on the review as always, and best of luck in the first round! I'll go with the Nuggets in a sweep though.

I think it's something the game has gotten right. It's all well and good for great offensive players to win the award, but if someone is averaging double-figures in 3 categories, I think that is worth more to the team.

Mavs Jazz let's go! Can't see anything less than the trophy this year, gotta ive Perko something for his work

Mavs and Jazz will be an interesting series, even though it has no real impact on me unless I make the WCF. It'd be nice to see the Mavs take it

If anyone deserves a ring this season, it's definitely Perko.

As Scottie Pippen and Ron Harper said in 1996, it don't mean a thing without the ring.

Now the pressure is on

[Kenny]

NBA Playoffs: Denver Vs San Antonio
The First Four Games

Game 1: Spurs Stun Nuggets In Denver



In quite possibly the upset of the season, the San Antonio Spurs won the first game of the Conference Quarter Finals by 95-85 against the top seeded Denver Nuggets. Led by All-Star Alejandro Carlos (34), the Spurs pulled away from the Nuggets in the 4th, thanks to a great team effort and a non-existent offensive game of J.R. Smith (only 2 points). Bartholomew David (18), Jamie Mathieu (17) and Johnny Gibson (11) all had their moments of hot shooting to compound the Nuggets problems.

Even though Mr Smith didn't show up, the Nuggets had great offensive output from Dwight Howard, Taylor MacKenzie and Carmelo Anthony. Early on, Howard looked like he would blow the game open for Denver and he ended up with 24 points and 14 rebounds. T-Mac came off the bench and helped keep the Nuggets in the game with 20 points of his own, while Carmelo scored 18. Even though Borislav Perko only had 8 points and 5 rebounds, he was very instrumental on the offensive end, helping to set up his teammates and tallying 17 assists.

After basically being written off in this series, the Spurs made a statement in this game. They will throw everything at the favourites for the NBA title and the Nuggets better be prepared for a contest.

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SAN@DEN

SAN: 95 (Carlos 34, David 18, Mathieu 17)
DEN: 85 (Howard 28, MacKenzie 20, Anthony 18)

Sprite Performer of the Game: Alejandro Carlos 34 points 3 rebounds 3 assists 1 block 1 steal

Rebounds

SAN: Mathieu, Patel 8
DEN: Howard 14

Assists

SAN: Gibson 6
DEN: Perko 17

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Game 2: Spurs Take Denver Double; Lead 2-0



Crowds once again were left stunned in the Mile High City as the San Antonio Spurs won by 84-81. Jamie Mathieu had an outstanding game, both out-scoring and out-rebounding his opponent Borislav Perko. The dynamic Spurs power forward had 25 points and 15 rebounds to lead San Antonio in both categories. Consequently, Alejandro Carlos had a quieter game this time around after scoring 34 in game 1. He scored 14, while Batholomew David (12 points, 7 assists) and backup centre Kerry Hofmann (12 points) both had meaningful contributions to the win.

The Spurs had a sizeable lead for most of the game, but the Nuggets rallied behind Taylor MacKenzie to make it a contest. T-Mac ended up being the top scorer of the game with 32 points off the bench. Even though he was outplayed by his direct opponent, Borislav Perko returned to the triple-double club with 19 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. Even though Dwight Howard scored 16 points, he was double-teamed effectively all night and he wasn't able to be as dominant.

Trailing by 2-0, the Nuggets are in a lot of trouble. They face the possibility of history repeating itself, as they went down to a lower seeded Spurs in the 2010 Conference Semis.

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SAN@DEN

SAN: 84 (Mathieu 24, Carlos 14, David 12)
DEN: 81 (MacKenzie 32, Perko 19, Howard 16)

Sprite Performer of the Game: 19 points 10 rebounds 10 assists 1 block 1 steal

Rebounds

SAN: Mathieu 15
DEN: Perko 10

Assists

SAN: David 7
DEN: Perko 10

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Game 3: Nuggets Get One Back



The Denver Nuggets avoided trailing 3-0 in the series by winning in San Antonio by 83-76. With inconsistent performances by his teammates in the first two games, the one constant has been Taylor MacKenzie and he once again didn't let his side down. He top scored for the Nuggets with 24 points. Carmelo Anthony also returned to the scorers' sheet with 18. Borislav Perko showed why he was the MVP this season, registering his second straight triple-double of the playoffs with 13 points, 16 rebounds and 15 assists. Both Dwight Howard and Nathan Bing scored 11 each.

Jamie Mathieu was outstanding for the Spurs once again, with 25 points and 8 rebounds. Johnny Gibson had another sharp shooting game with 17, while Alejandro Carlos was well down on his usual self, scoring 12 points.

After losing the first two games in the series, the Nuggets are now in business. Hopefully for the Denver fans, it's not too little, too late.

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DEN@SAN

DEN: 83 (MacKenzie 24, Anthony 18, Perko 13)
SAN: 76 (Mathieu 25, Gibson 17, Carlos 12)

Sprite Performer of the Game: Borislav Perko 13 points 16 rebounds 15 assists 3 blocks

Rebounds

DEN: Perko 16
SAN: Patel 12

Assists

DEN: Perko 15
SAN: Carlos 5

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Game 4: Spurs 1 Away From Historic Upset



Another amazing performance from Jamie Mathieu saw the Spurs win 89-83 against the Nuggets in San Antonio to go up 3-1. Mathieu once again dominated his matchup against the MVP, scoring 26 points and grabbing 12 boards to be named the performer of the game. Johnny Gibson also had a big game with 22 points, while Alejandro Carlos (16 points) and Bartholomew David (16 points, 7 assists) both contributed to their side's win.

Denver weren't without their chances to win this one, but the Spurs were simply to accurate from the field. Carmelo Anthony was the Nuggets standout with 23 points. Taylor MacKenzie continued his consistent scoring efforts with 17 points, while J.R. Smith finally decided to show up and score 16 points. Dwight Howard was once again troubled by the Spurs double-teams, but he still managed 14 points and 13 rebounds. Perko had a night he'd rather forget, with 3 points, 5 rebounds and 12 assists, as well as getting 26 dropped on him.

The Spurs are one win away from meeting the winner of the Houston/Memphis series.

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DEN@SAN

SAN: 89 (Mathieu 26, Gibson 22, Carlos 16)
DEN: 83 (Anthony 23, MacKenzie 17, Smith 16)

Sprite Performer of the Game: Jamie Mathieu 26 points 12 rebounds 3 assists 2 blocks

Rebounds

SAN: Mathieu 12
DEN: Howard 13

Assists

SAN: David 7
DEN: Perko 12

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Turns out the Spurs are pretty good...