Jugs 41 points helps Hawks win opening game
Denver Nuggets
@
Atlanta Hawks
28/11/2004
This is the Atlanta Hawks opening game for the season. Look out for Joe Johnson's first full-time role as a Point guard and young stars Robert Skrnjug and Marvin Williams.
1st Half Recap
The first 4 minutes belonged to the Nuggets as they didn't miss a shot from the field but they did not have an answer to young star Robert Skrnjug who kept his team in the game. Robert Skrnjug got benched then it was Al Harrington's turn to keep his team in the game. Eventually they got the lead and a Denver time out was called. The scores were even until the Hawks made some costly turnovers and Najera hit a prayer to leave the scores at 27-21 at quarter time. The Hawks have some work to do.
The Nuggets came out firing in the 3rd quarter, hitting a few 3's in a row but the Hawks still managed to keep up. Then suddenly, out of no where, Skrnjug received a back injury. The home crowd was in shock. But Collier hit the two free throws and Al Harrington stepped up his game both defensively and offensively which brought down the deficit to one point. Both teams exchanged the leads many times for the next few minutes. The Nuggets suddenly shot out to a 7 point lead but the Hawks managed to come back as Lue and Johnson scored their first baskets in this match. The Hawks kept making unnecassary shooting fouls but luckily Lenard missed some free throws and a Collier dunk tied the game at 50 a piece with 42 seconds to go. Kenyon Martin missed a dunk with 8 seconds left and the scores remained 50 a piece.
Key players At the Half
Voshon Lenard and Al Harrington
2nd Half Recap
Robert Skrnjug decided to start on the court this half as he decided he was ready to play again after his back injury. Joe Johnson and Marvin Williams remained on the bench as they were not really scoring well, only 2 points combined plus they were both in foul trouble
Denver started the quarter off with the ball but the tight defence by Josh Childress forced a shot block beating shot from Andre Miller but Childress blocked this shot which led to a Salim Stoudamire dunk on the fast break which gave the Hawks the lead. Then some sloppy plays gave the Nuggets back the lead. Then Josh Childress banked a huge buzzer beating 3 pointer with 1 second left on the shot clock. Some more sloppy fouls and play disallowed the Hawks to make a comeback but they held strong and eventually cut the lead down to a point. Then finally Marvin Williams scored his first points in the NBA which gave the Hawks a 2 point lead. The Hawks decided to go on a dunkfest. Robert Skrnjug was dominating this quarter as his score tally went up to 24 when he scored the team's last 10 points. The Denver Nuggets ended the quarter ahead by 1 point. Twas an exciting quarter.
Robert Skrnjug started the quarter in spectacular fashion as kept posterizing Camby. After 3 quarters, he finally got his first block in NBA basketball. The Hawks went on a 7 point run to increase the lead to 7 points.

. Atlanta got out to an eight point lead with 5 and a half minutes left and after 12 and a half awesome minutes from Robert Skrnjug, it was time for him to rest (nb: His stamina rating is like 60 or something, i used my timeouts effectively)
The Hawks continued their strong play as they denied the Nuggets to make a decent run or comeback. Joe Johnson ended up fouling out, it was a disappointing start of the season for him, look for him to bounce back. For the last minute of the match, the Hawks 3 rookies and the Joshes came on just to encourage more bandwagoners to join in the fun, plus Robert needed 3 more points for a 40 point game in his first NBA match. Robert made 2 baskets with 17 seconds left to reach 41 points. The Nuggets just watched hopelessly as they fell apart.
Player of the Game
Robert Skrnjug
After only scoring 8 points in the first quarter and none in the 2nd due to his injury, Robert manaded to scored 33 points the 2nd half to help the Hawks cross over the line to win.
Pictures From the Game
Jugs's's's Dunks
Josh Childress
Al Harrington
Marvin Williams' dunks
Josh Smith
Robert Skrnjug Injury
Boxscores
Atlanta Hawks
Denver Nuggets
Jugs Blog
Well for my first game of my NBA career, i did extremely well. I just felt i had the right touch in the 2nd half with my dunking and my nice hustle. I was rapt when I won my first jump ball, my first score and my first dunk. They were all great moments. But my first injury wasn't a great moment. Ouch, my back was all cramped up but the doctors treated it well and I was ready for the 2nd half, boy I had an awesome 2nd half of this match. 41 points was not bad, I did contribute a little on the boards, but my defensive presence was felt as I kept Camby to a low score. Well our next game is in two days so hope to see you there.
My hustle pictures
Lots of Love, Jugsy boy.
I hope you enjoy my first game