MARTIN DESTROYS BULLS BUT IS HIT AGAIN BY INJURY
Chicago 86
Denver 94
Denver Nuggets managed to hold off a late comeback attempt by the Chicago Bulls last night at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado. The Nuggets led by as much as 17 at the half but had their lead cut by the persistent Bulls team. Denver's dominant force was power forward Kenyon Martin, who returned from injury to score a season-high 41 points. Martin was to be injured again later in the game, this time with a nasty back injury. The medical staff are still unsure about the seriousness of the injury.
The Nuggets started Voshon Lenard at shooting guard again, but he played little part as he was substituted for rookie Julius Hodge after less than three minutes gone of the first quarter, having let Bulls shooter Ben Gordon make four baskets in a row. With Lenard out, the Nuggets were unable to make a single outside shot during the entire game until the veteran shooter returned in the fourth quarter. In return Hodge and DerMarr Johnson held Gordon to 10 points during the remainder of the game.
"Just by looking at where we took our shots you could tell we were missing any kind of outside threat", said Nuggets coach Jeff Bzdelik. He didn't make any comment on Lenard, saying everyone in the team must remain focused for the next game in New Orleans against the Hornets.
Starters:
Denver (1-2 before game)
C M. Camby
F K. Martin
F C. Anthony
G V. Lenard
G A. Miller
Chicago (0-2 before game)
C E. Curry
F T. Chandler
F L. Deng
G B. Gordon
G K. Hinrich
Player of the game:
Martin DEN 41/4
Team leaders:
DEN: Anthony 27/6/4 ast, Nene 12/4
CHI: Gordon 18/2, Hinrich 19/4, Curry 19/9
Pictures:
Martin dominates the paint.
K-Mart jams Bulls defender upside down (see bottom edge).
And again...
...until disaster strikes. With 9:06 left, he could have reached 50.