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

[kibaxx7]

Well-deserved man. All the time, I think about how a 2K12 story from you would look like. Props!

Between me and you, I was a little tired of seeing Sit winning every year.

[Kenny]

Thanks to everyone for the kind words. Sorry I haven't been updating this since winning the award, I'm currently in the moving progress... which actually brings me to some unfortunate news.

You guys probably don't know this, but the playstation 3 I've been playing NBA Live 10 on has actually been my housemate's, who I have lived with for 6 years. But now we're going our seperate ways and I'm going to be without a playstation for the foreseeable future. NBA Live 10 is mine, along with a bunch of other games (Fallout New Vegas, Saints Row 2 and Red Dead Redemption... just to name a few), so I do intend to pick up another PS3 at some point and hopefully I can transfer my dynasty file easily enough.

I'm going to try and get another 5 game summary off before the move, but right now I'm not making any promises because it's going to be a busy few days trying to get things organised.

Thanks to everyone for the ongoing support and patience throughout this thread. With any luck, the hiatus after the 15th will be short lived. Even though I won't have any gameplay after that point, expect the odd article every now and then, because I won't be able to keep away from this entirely

[Andrew]

Good stuff. Good luck with the move, hopefully you can pick it up again before too long.

[Mavs4Life]

Sounds fine, just hope you can get your own PS3 soon, this dynasty is the best. Good luck on the move, too.

[Kenny]

Good stuff. Good luck with the move, hopefully you can pick it up again before too long.

Thanks Andrew, it hasn't been the most enjoyable process, but everything is pretty much ahead of schedule. I have at least one 5 game summary to do and I'm hoping there will be a second as well.

Sounds fine, just hope you can get your own PS3 soon, this dynasty is the best. Good luck on the move, too.

Thanks Mavs4Life even if the dynasty gets a bit of downtime, I'm considering starting a 2k11 association with a lockout shortened season. At this point, I'm heavily leaning towards the Utah Jazz.

[Kenny]

Melo's Comeback

Not long after retiring from the NBA, the Orlando Magic surprisingly signed Carmelo Anthony to a contract that will end this season. After Denver's shock loss to San Antonio in last season's NBA Playoffs, Carmelo was resigned to the fact that it was the last game he would play in a Nuggets jersey... but what no one expected was that he felt that he still had something left in the tank.

"I remember how disappointed I was (with the loss), but I thought my performance wasn't too bad. I knew the Nuggets would look to go in a different direction, but I still felt like I had something left. I figured that nobody wanted to take a chance on me this late in my career, so I gave it up."

Will Melo help the Magic become relevant again?

----

This was something I actually missed out on during the off-season. I just figured he disappeared from the free agent pool, but instead when I was looking at the upcoming free agents list, there he was on Orlando's roster.

[Kenny]

5 Game Summary

It was an eventful 5 game summary, as the Nuggets extended their streak to 11 with a blowout win against the Knicks. However, it would also end there as well, as the Nuggets had a frustrating loss (in more ways than one) against the New Jersey Nets. From there, the Mile High City were able to take care of Phoenix, the Clippers and the Lakers amidst the roadtrip of doom. The feature game is against the Lakers, coz hey, don't we all like seeing that team get beaten? Here it is:

Denver's Wingmen Fly Past Lakers



The new and improved Denver offense was too good for the Los Angeles Lakers as they won by 94-82. They were led by Taylor MacKenzie once again, who scored a game high 29 points and was judged the Player of the Game. New recruit Cody Campbell had his best game with the Nuggets so far with 26 points and 7 rebounds, while the other relatively new guy Duncan Werner scored 20 to complete a great team performance.

For the Lakers, their all-star Theo Hadson had an impeccable night with 27 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists. But his supporting cast wasn't as fantastic as Taylor's, as Dakota Kane (16), Steven MacMahon (15) and Archibald Sheehan (14) all registered solid scoring numbers without being overly threatening.

The Nuggets seemingly ran away with the game in the third, as Campbell (power forward), MacKenzie (small forward) and Werner (shooting guard) were all on the floor at the same time, to which the Lakers had no answer.

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DEN@LAL

DEN: 94 (MacKenzie 29, Campbell 26, Werner 20)
LAL: 82 (Hadson 27, Kane 16, MacMahon 15)

Sprite Performer of the Game: Taylor MacKenzie 29 points 2 rebounds 1 assist 5 steals

Rebounds

DEN: Campbell 7
LAL: Kane, Sheehan 9

Assists

DEN: Perko 9
LAL: MacMahon 5

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Last 5 Games

@NYK: 89-55 W
@NJN: 71-67 L
@PHX: 84-67 W
@LAC: 71-67 W
@LAL: 94-82 W

The Nuggets are now 29-6

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Ollie Who?

Duncan Werner made a huge statement in the game against the Knicks. He was defended by the reigning Defensive Player of the Year... but did he care? He dropped 40 points on Ollie Rose.

Just 2 More Blocks!

Howard came incredibly close to getting the dynasty's first quadruple-double with 13 points, 12 rebounds, 11 assists and 8 blocks against the Clippers.

Still Leading

Despite the addition of more offensive firepower, Taylor MacKenzie is still leading the way. In the loss to the Nets, he had 24 points to be Denver's highest scorer in the game.

Bringing Back Memories

With Cody Campbell's jumpshot, Suns fans couldn't be blamed if they were reminded of better days. Campbell's awkward release replicates the one of former Suns star Shawn Marion. Just like Marion, Cody is also very effective with his unorthodox approach and he scored 20 points against Phoenix.

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Next 5 Games

@GSW
@SAC
OKC
@GSW
@LAL

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Ok, so last night, I played the game against the Nets and won it by a convincing margin. Just as Marv Albert and Steve Kerr wrap up the game, it froze during the video presentation. I return to it the next morning and it wasn't saved. I played the game again and sure enough, I lost and it didn't freeze this time. What a freaking miracle!

[Andrew]

Shame about the freeze, in my experience NBA Live 10 only ever locked up when I was winning. Rigged, I say.

So close on that quadruple double...looks like it could happen eventually. Interesting to see Melo actually stuck around.

[Martti.]

Perko will get that quadruple-double one day. No big outings for him this round?

[Kenny]

Shame about the freeze, in my experience NBA Live 10 only ever locked up when I was winning. Rigged, I say.

So close on that quadruple double...looks like it could happen eventually. Interesting to see Melo actually stuck around.

That's the only time I've experienced it as well... I cry conspiracy!

I think it's going to happen at some point... it'll be between Perko and Howard. LeBron might be a darkhorse, but I find it hard to get rebounds with him since he plays the perimeter. Who knows, if McGee is even marginally close, I'll try extra hard to get it with him

Perko will get that quadruple-double one day. No big outings for him this round?

He's been solid as usual. His scoring has taken a hit now since I'm back to putting more emphasis on wing scoring. He still leads the league in assists and blocks (IIRC), plus he pulls down a respectable rebound per game average too.

[Kenny]

5 Game Summary

After a hiccup against New Jersey in the previous round, the Nuggets made sure they didn't repeat that this time. They ended the road trip of doom with convincing wins over Golden State and Sacramento. They returned home to face J.R. Smith and the Thunder and it turned out to be one of the all time classics. After their one game home, they went back on the road to pick up a second win against the Warriors and another against the Los Angeles Lakers.

The feature is of course the Oklahoma City game. It proved to be a historic one for a particular individual:

T-Mac Sets Franchise Record in OT Win



In their game back home after the horrid road trip, the Nuggets were able to beat the Thunder by 115-108 in OT. It ended up being a remarkable game by Taylor MacKenzie, who broke J.R. Smith's franchise record of points in a single game (64). He tallied 69 for the Nuggets as he carried them through the extra period. Cody Campbell continued his impressive form with 22 of his own, while Duncan Werner was the only other double digit scorer for Denver with 10.

On any other night, a stat-line of 32 points and 10 assists would be good enough for Roy Kohler to win the Performer of the Game, but it wasn't to be in this game. He led a field of 5 double digit scorers for the Thunder. Borislav Silva (22 points, 13 rebounds) and Thomas Bender (15 points, 12 rebounds) both registered double-doubles as well, while J.R. Smith (13) and Caleb Vick (10) both had relatively quiet nights.

It seems that after many seasons of not living up to the potential he once promised, Taylor MacKenzie is continuing to prove his doubters wrong. With this effort, it's safe to say he's now one of the NBA's elite scorers. Not only did he beat J.R. Smith's old record of 64, but he did it against the man himself. That's got to add insult to injury for the former Nuggets MVP.

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OKC@DEN
(OT)
DEN: 115 (MacKenzie 69, Campbell 22, Werner 10)
OKC: 108 (Kohler 32, Silva 22, Bender 15)

Sprite Performer of the Game: Taylor MacKenzie 69 points 6 rebounds 1 assist

Rebounds

DEN: Perko 12
OKC: Silva 13

Assists

DEN: Perko 8
OKC: Kohler 10

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Last 5 Games

@GSW: 97-67 W
@SAC: 97-83 W
OKC: 115-108 W (OT)
@GSW: 82-63 W
@LAL: 83-78 W

The Nuggets are now 34-6

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Dwightmare In Sac-Town!

While Perko is quiet on the triple-double front, Howard is now taking over. Against the Kings he had 24 points, 17 rebounds and 12 assists. The dude is still a beast.

...Just One More Steal!

Speaking of Borislav Perko, he was just one steal away from a 5 x 5 against the Warriors in the first game. He had 10 points, 5 rebounds, 10 assists, 5 blocks and 4 steals. He's still staying active out there.

CO-DEE?

Cody Campbell has stepped up into Denver's secondary scoring scoring role. In every game apart from the second against Golden State, he scored 20 plus, with his best being 27 against the Lakers.

More Help

Duncan Werner is also in great scoring touch. He scored 27 against the Warriors in the second game.

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Next 5 Games

CHA
CLE
NYK
WAS
@DAL

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Okay, so I said I was making no promises for the first 5... now I'm making none for the third 5

And yes, the temptation to put up a puerile headline for T-Mac's 69 point game was definitely there

[Andrew]

Who knows, if McGee is even marginally close, I'll try extra hard to get it with him

It would be pretty realistic for him to chase it if he got close.

Strong round, huge game for T-Mac.

[Phil89]

That's the only time I've experienced it as well... I cry conspiracy!

It's only happened to me once, when I called a time-out. Guess who was winning by a big margin at the time.

[Kenny]

It would be pretty realistic for him to chase it if he got close.

Strong round, huge game for T-Mac.

He's currently losing minutes to Liam Leopold, so it's probably not going to happen anytime soon. But if I get close, I will do absolutely everything possible to get him there... even if it means losing by 20+ points okay, maybe not that extreme

I loved the fact that he got the franchise record against the previous record holder. It reminded me of when I eclipsed Kobe's 81 with My Player

That's the only time I've experienced it as well... I cry conspiracy!

It's only happened to me once, when I called a time-out. Guess who was winning by a big margin at the time.

It's happened to me a bunch of times. Usually it happens when I will hit pause at the same time a replay is coming up or when someone goes to the foul line. It's annoying and hopefully something that will be fixed with the next EA title.

[Kenny]

5 Game Summary

The Nuggets were once again unstoppable in this round to extend their winning streak to 13. They were rarely challenged at all, with the closest game being a 13 point win against the Dallas Mavericks. But with the nature of which they won against the New York Knicks, that will be the feature of this round:

Nuggets Rout Knicks In 4th



The Denver Nuggets had an incredible last quarter to defeat the Knicks by 77-63. Losing by 7 points at the start of the 4th quarter, the Nuggets went on a 27-6 run to take the Knicks out of the game. Once again Duncan Werner led the scoring for the Nuggets against the Knicks, with 24 points. Taylor MacKenzie had a relatively quiet night with 14. Despite Werner's efforts, the Player of the Game was Borislav Perko. He came within 3 blocks of a dynasty-first quadruple-double with 12 points, 17 rebounds, 19 assists and 7 blocks. He was directing traffic all night and it's the reason why the Nuggets had such an even spread of scorers, as LeBron James (11) and Cody Campbell (10) also contributed.

On the other side of the coin, the Knicks only had 2 double-digit scorers, with Ed Feehan (25) and Ken O'Reilly (12) the only players to really make an impact before the disasterous 4th. Perenial MVP favourite Ollie Rose once again had an ordinary night versus Duncan Werner, as he only scored 8 points.

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NYK@DEN

DEN: 77 (Werner 24, MacKenzie 14, Perko 12)
NYK: 63 (Feehan 25, O'Reilly 12, Rose 8)

Sprite Performer of the Game: Borislav Perko 12 points 17 rebounds 19 assists 7 blocks

Rebounds

DEN: Perko 17
NYK: Bernard 7

Assists

DEN: Perko 19
NYK: O'Reilly 7

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Last 5 Games

CHA: 106-73 W
CLE: 100-71 W
NYK: 77-63 W
WAS: 90-70 W
@DAL: 90-77 W

The Nuggets are now 39-6

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Two Statistical Clubs... Almost Three

In the game against Dallas, LeBron James had quite possibly the best statistical game if his career. He had an incredible 26 points, 17 rebounds, 20 assists, 2 blocks and 4 steals. With this performance, he joins the triple-double and the 20-20 club... he was only 3 rebounds away from being the second member of the double-triple-double club as well, of which the only member so far is Borislav Perko.

More Big Numbers

After relatively quiet previous rounds, you couldn't keep Perko out of this one. To go with his almost-quadruple-double performance against the Knicks, he had 12 points, 18 rebounds and 13 assists in the previous game against the Cavs.

Pourin It On

At times this season, Taylor MacKenzie has proven to be unguardable and the game against Charlotte was no exception. He piled on 44 points.

Leaping Leopold

I'm not sure if I've done a pictureless caption before, but in the midst of clearing out my NBA Live 10 gallery, I accidentally deleted this screenshot. Basically, new recruit Liam Leopold had a massive night against his previous team. He had 24 points, 18 rebounds and 4 blocked shots against the Wizards. Not bad for a guy who had previously averaged less than 2 points per game in the 2021-2022 season.

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Since it's going to be a while before the next recap, I won't put down the next 5 games.

Admittedly I chased a lot of individual milestones this round since this will be my last 5 game recap at least until the new year at this point, hence the massive rebounding totals with 3 different players. I will post the report for January 2022 and in the meantime I might post a few articles about the new guys and basically anything with any nostalgia value.

If anyone has any ideas for an article they'd like to see, feel free to suggest it and I'll do my best with what I have currently.

[Cruzerr]

About Leopold..I find that in some games. Its the "change my scorer" thing pretty much. Put some offensive power in to a bench player.

Still, 39-6 is going strong.

[Andrew]

Looks like LeBron's still got some magic left in him. Awesome effort against the Knicks, textbook choking on their part. Hope you can get a new PS3 soon!

[Axel The Great]

Finally caught up and read the massive amount of updates. It's nice to see Melo attempt to make a comeback, but he'd have been better off staying in Denver even though you didn't have plans on resigning him. If he feels he still has something to prove though, let him play.

It seems as if the quadruple-double eludes you with every 5 game summary, and the five-by-five was nearly there for Perko. Hopefully you get at least one of the two before the season ends.

As for Taylor Mackenzie, I always knew he'd break a scoring record or two. Guy has major game.

It's good to see your team on a tear towards redemption and on another big win streak, one that should've been bigger if it weren't for NBA Live 10 freezing (choking) in the final seconds.

[kibaxx7]

Man, I LOVE that Nuggets alternate.

[Martti.]

LeBron's still got it, must be nice to have a PG who is capable of 20-20-20 games.

Can't wait for more updates, get that PS3!

[Warlock95]

You could at least tell us what Leopold looks like, maybe even his jersey number.

In the game against Dallas, LeBron James had quite possibly the best statistical game if his career. He had an incredible 26 points, 17 rebounds, 20 assists, 2 blocks and 4 steals.

Man, he's becoming less and less greedy through the years. Maybe realizing he still has no rings has something to do with it?

[Houndy]

T-MAC is too raw

[Kenny]

News about an athlete cut down in their prime always resonates with me. Whether I particularly like them or not, it's hard knowing that a person who's just a little older than I am (or sometimes younger) can no longer do what they're best at.

One thing I'll really enjoy when I look back on this dynasty is the fact that a player like Brandon Roy was able to reach his full potential. He was in the NBA until the year 2021; 10 years more than his real life story. Perhaps it's not a realistic situation, but one thing the NBA Live engine can give you is a player's career unaffected by dabilitating injuries and off court issues.

In real life, before injuries ended up taking over his career, Brandon Roy was a stud and that's the player he lived up to in TNL. He led the Portland Trail Blazers to a championship and won the Finals MVP in 2014.

I suppose I don't have a real lot to say, but I thought it'd be fitting to have some kind of a tribute to Roy, because he's a player I always respected. I hope he continues to have a role with the Portland Trail Blazers because he's a great ambassador for the game.

[Kenny]

About Leopold..I find that in some games. Its the "change my scorer" thing pretty much. Put some offensive power in to a bench player.

Still, 39-6 is going strong.

Well, I was basically just testing him out, trying to see what his limitations are. He doesn't have an affective jumpshot, but he's athletic as all hell and he can jump out of the gym.

With the Nuggets this season, it's probably going to be more likely they'll be 6-39
I'm still hoping they can cling to the bottom of the conference 8... it's going to be hard without Nene + a stack of others who have left.

Looks like LeBron's still got some magic left in him. Awesome effort against the Knicks, textbook choking on their part. Hope you can get a new PS3 soon!

Just when I thought my "love affair" of controlling LBJ was over, I was able to have a game like that with him. Guess he's here to stay.

Hopefully I can get one sometime after Christmas... you never know with the boxing day sales.

Finally caught up and read the massive amount of updates. It's nice to see Melo attempt to make a comeback, but he'd have been better off staying in Denver even though you didn't have plans on resigning him. If he feels he still has something to prove though, let him play.

It seems as if the quadruple-double eludes you with every 5 game summary, and the five-by-five was nearly there for Perko. Hopefully you get at least one of the two before the season ends.

As for Taylor Mackenzie, I always knew he'd break a scoring record or two. Guy has major game.

It's good to see your team on a tear towards redemption and on another big win streak, one that should've been bigger if it weren't for NBA Live 10 freezing (choking) in the final seconds.

My updates have been sporadic as of late. Tons of stuff going on at the moment (including no PS3 now). I would have liked to have seen Melo retire (or stay retired as the story goes), but if the Magic can ressurect their season, it'll be a nice story in itself.

Once every few games I really go out and chase those individual milestones. It keeps things interesting for me. The fact I've played almost 13 seasons and still have things to aim for makes me content.

Every game I think "how much can I score with him today", because I really believe he can get anywhere between 15 and 100 at this point

And I won't get started again about the choking!

Man, I LOVE that Nuggets alternate.

I do too, I try to use them as much as possible

LeBron's still got it, must be nice to have a PG who is capable of 20-20-20 games.

Can't wait for more updates, get that PS3!

He does still have it. I guess ever since Shaun Livingston, I've had a preference towards tall point guards. It just creates so many mismatches and you essentially have another forward out there.

Hopefully the PS3 isn't too far away

You could at least tell us what Leopold looks like, maybe even his jersey number.

In the game against Dallas, LeBron James had quite possibly the best statistical game if his career. He had an incredible 26 points, 17 rebounds, 20 assists, 2 blocks and 4 steals.

Man, he's becoming less and less greedy through the years. Maybe realizing he still has no rings has something to do with it?

I'm planning on doing an article about Liam Leopold and Cody Campbell... it was actually going to be the next one, but I decided to put together that one about Roy instead. Which also reminds me about an inaccuracy I need to fix in a previous article (LeBron actually competed in 3 NBA Finals, one being against the 2014 Portland Trail Blazers).

I guess I'm using LeBron the way I would want him to play in real life. With his court vision, strength and athleticism, I think he has the potential to dominate the position.

T-MAC is too raw

That's one of the things people love about him though.

[Andrew]

Agreed on all accounts with the Roy post. It's a shame he can't go out on his own terms but kind of cool that we can create these alternate realities of sorts through video games, play out all the "what if" scenarios and re-write history and legacies. When it comes down to it, that's the main appeal of Dynasty and Association Mode.