# Game Thread: Nuggets at Grizzlies - 4/5/05



## cpawfan

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<u>Records</u>
The 40-31 (6-4 over their last 10 games) Memphis Grizzlies welcome the 4--31 (9-1 over their last 10 games) Denver Nuggets. The Grizzlies are 23-13 at home while the Nuggets are 15-21 on the road. 

<u>Injuries</u>
The Grizzlies will be with out Stromile Swift who was placed on the IL with an irregular heart beat. Still unknown for the Nuggets is the status of Kenyon and Buckner. Karl stated that he expects Kenyon will be able to play

<u>Starting Lineups</u>

<table border=3 bordercolor="#0000ff" width=100% bgcolor="#99ccff"><tr align=center><td><FONT COLOR="#990000" SIZE=6>Denver</font></td><td><FONT COLOR="#990000" SIZE=6>Position</font></td><td><FONT COLOR="#990000" SIZE=6>Memphis</font></td></tr><tr align=center><td><FONT COLOR="#ffff00" SIZE=4>Carmelo Anthony</td><td>Small Forward</td><td><FONT COLOR="#cc6600" SIZE=4>Shane Battier</td></tr><tr align=center><td><FONT COLOR="#ffff00" SIZE=4>Kenyon Martin</td><td>Power Forward</td><td><FONT COLOR="#cc6600" SIZE=4>Pau Gasol</td></tr><tr align=center><td><FONT COLOR="#ffff00" SIZE=4>Marcus Camby</td><td>Center</td><td><FONT COLOR="#cc6600" SIZE=4>Lorenzen Wright</td></tr><tr align=center><td><FONT COLOR="#ffff00" SIZE=4>DerMarr Johnson</td><td>Shooting Guard</td><td><FONT COLOR="#cc6600" SIZE=4>Mike Miller</td></tr><tr align=center><td><FONT COLOR="#ffff00" SIZE=4>Andre Miller</td><td>Point Guard</td><td><FONT COLOR="#cc6600" SIZE=4>Jason Williams</td></tr></table>

<u>Storylines</u>
There is only 1 storyline and that is which team wants this game more. Playoff seedings are riding on this game.


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## Kuskid

So refreshing to see Kenyon's name back in the starting lineup. The Nuggets are 2-0 against the Grizz this year, with a key player from one side missing each game. Melo was absent from the Nuggets 92-82 home win over the Grizz on January 21st. Earl went nuts in that one, with 25 points and 10 assists. Camby had 18, 13, and 6 blocks. Kenyon, despite an off night offensively, logged 36 minutes and limited Gasol to just 8 points on 4 of 12 shooting. 6 Nggets grabbed at least 5 boards in this one.
Despite playing without an injured Pau Gasol, the Grizz led most of the game, before losing 97-94 in OT at home. The Grizz clamped down on Melo, who shot just 3 for 13 from the field. 15 of Boykins' 19 came from the line, where the Nuggets went 44 for 52. Lorenzen Wright grabbed 18 boards, half on the offensive end, and Brian Cardinal led the Grizz with 28 points, 7 boards, and 3 steals.


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## BaLLiStiX17

I hope this can be a succesful game thread like the one we had agaisnt the spurs and not like the dissapointing one agaisnt the blazers..


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## Kunlun

This should be a good game. I want the Nuggets to win and Carmelo to have a nice game. I'm rooting for the Nuggets to do well in the playoffs this year, and I hope they can get a good seeding. Homecourt advantage for the playoffs might be out of reach by now, but every win still counts. Wins build confidence and confidence creates wins, it's a cycle that always seems to be true.


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## rice613

yeah, every win definitely counts. esp. the 2 games against memphis and the game against minnesota. if we can get a 10-0 record or even a 9-1 record in the last 10 games i'd say the 6th seed is pretty much ours. That'd be awesome, then karl could take us into the 2nd round, reminescent of his takeover of the sonics. i'd be happy if we got into the 2nd round =)


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## cpawfan

Some very good news today in the RMN



> "It feels better, man," Martin said. "I'm just taking it easy until (today) to see if I can go or not. Certain movements that I made (Monday) bothered me, but for the most part, I feel a lot better."
> 
> Nuggets coach George Karl predicted Martin will be in the lineup tonight.
> 
> "Kenyon played most of the practice, so I'd think he'd try it (against Memphis)," Karl said.


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## cpawfan

BaLLiStiX17 said:


> I hope this can be a succesful game thread like the one we had agaisnt the spurs and not like the dissapointing one agaisnt the blazers..


Well, part of the solution to that is for you to post often during the game :biggrin:


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## BaLLiStiX17

cpawfan said:


> Well, part of the solution to that is for you to post often during the game :biggrin:


heh ill try this game.. had things to do last game


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## cpawfan

Nene started


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## cpawfan

Denver off to an early 6-0 lead off of 2 Memphis TO's


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## cpawfan

At the 8:40 mark, memphis gets its first basket from a Mike Miller Jumper


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## cpawfan

Time out 6:20 mark and Denver is leading 10-6

rebounds 7-5 Denver

shooting Denver 4/10, 0/1 from 3 and 2/2 from the line - only 1 assist
memphis 3/9 0/2 0/0 - 1 assist


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## cpawfan

trading baskets 17-11


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## cpawfan

Kenyon has entered the game


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## cpawfan

Melo picks up his second foul and is replaced by Person


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## cpawfan

Time out 2:29 mark and Denver is leading 24-18

rebounds 10-6

Shooting
Denver: 10/18, 2/3 & 2/2 - 6 assists
Memphis: 8/15, 1/3 & 1/2 - 3 assists


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## cpawfan

Camby picks up his second foul just before the end of the quarter


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## cpawfan

End of 1st, 28-24 Nuggets

Rebounds 11-9 Nuggets Advantage

Shooting
Denver: 11/21, 2/3 & 2/2 - 7 assists
Memphis: 10/19, 1/4 & 3/4 - 4 assists


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## cpawfan

2nd quarter will be interesting as Camby and Melo each have 2 fouls

scoring: Camby & Melo 6 each, DJ 5, Kenyon & Nene 4 each and Person 3

Memphis: J Will 9, Miller 6, Wright 4, Battier 3 & Gasol 2


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## cpawfan

Memphis scores 4 quick points to open the quarter and ties the game


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## cpawfan

Kenyon get Gasol to pick up his second foul


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## rice613

whoever controls the glass usually wins the game. hopefully martin gets some consistent rebounds this game. i'd say 8-9 would be good from him. i hope he doesn't aggravate his injury


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## cpawfan

Nuggets down 30-32 @ the 9:17 mark

Nene has replaced Kenyon and Russell has replaced Person

Kenyon scored 6 points in 7 minutes


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## cpawfan

Melo with back to back baskets ties the game @ 34


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## rice613

i expect a few technicals in this game hehe. hopefully not on our side.


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## cpawfan

Time out 8:19 mark and the game is tied at 34

Rebounds: 12 each

Shooting
Denver: 13/26, 2/3 & 6/6 - 8 assists
Memphis: 13/23, 1/4 & 7/8 - 6 assists


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## rice613

grizzlies shooting .547
nuggets shooting .481


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## rice613

denver's offense has been anthony on 3 consecutive baskets. nice shooting melo. andre has to start getting more shots though..


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## cpawfan

Melo is 4/4 in the 2nd quarter and the Nuggets are up 38-34


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## rice613

earl boykins just missed 2 consecutive free throws.. now thats rare. and a frickin shame


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## cpawfan

Denver can't score, Melo picks up his 3rd foul and Memphis is winning

38-42


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## cpawfan

Kenyon back in the game for Nene


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## rice613

hmm nuggets down 42-38
boykins is having an off night so far. he really needs to step it up in the 2nd half. those 2 free throws he missed were pretty demoralizing for the team as he is a 90+% ft shooter


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## cpawfan

Time out 2:53 mark and Denver is trailing 38-45

Denver last scored at the 6:42 mark

rebounding: 15-19

shooting
Denver: 15/33, 2/4 & 6/8 - 9 assists
Memphis: 16/30, 2/6 & 11/12 - 7 assists


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## rice613

one thing i've noticed is that we get a lot of offensive fouls called against our players.. esp. nene and carmelo. karl should work on getting them to foul less because it basically cancels our possession and gives it to the other team.


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## rice613

it's a bad quarter when we don't manage to score 20 pts.


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## rice613

yeah.. finally! andre's taking control of the offense. that's right.. we're on a 6-0 run


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## cpawfan

Dre makes his first 2 baskets and brings the score to 44-45


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## rice613

gasol just shot 2 bricks for ft's. can someone say pressure night?


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## rice613

my bad. 1 for 2


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## cpawfan

Arg, Memphis gets a 3 from Gasol and leads 51-46


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## rice613

we go into the half down by 5 51-46.. i expect us to have a run late 3rd quarter.


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## cpawfan

Give credit to the Memphis defense. Denver trails in fast break points 2-6


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## cpawfan

Nuggets played a horrible 2nd quarter and were out scored 18-27

it was so bad, I can't bring myself to look at the stats


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## rice613

yeah.. they are really shutting down our fast break. if they can keep that up, we're going to go down hard. we have to break the game open soon. we have a crappy half-court offense imo. of courrse teams in the playoffs will be doing this also, so we ned to learn how to fight our way through this.


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## Petey

What a hot looking game thread... the first post.

I'm going to steal that later.

What up guys?

How does KMart look out there?

-Petey


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## rice613

this is the first time i actually want melo back in the game really badly. geez, 3 fouls in the first half.. any ways he should be back in the 3rd quarter and invigorate our offense!


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## Kuskid

:curse: Not exactly the night I wanted to be swamped with homework. Anyways, I'll have the game on, and I'll try to make it back here by the end of the game. Go Nuggets :clap:


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## rice613

andre miller and pau gasol both make 4 pts to start the half. someone stop gasol man he's shooting 4/4


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## Petey

Gasol scores, Miller hits, and they do it over again, trading baskets to start the 3rd quarter.

-Petey


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## rice613

we're getting outrebounded 23-16.. this is not acceptable. our entire front court is "healthy"


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## Petey

Miller and Williams hits, KMart comes off the bench.

KMart to Camby, hits.

Williams to Miller now.

Nuggets need some stops!

-Petey


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## rice613

i hate to say this, but we are relaly missing buckner's defensive stops out there. their guards are killing us. camby's having an off night on the defensive presence also. too many damn layups


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## Petey

Boykins to KMart for the Dunk!

Man, his dunks are sweet... I have a bunch saved on my CPU.

-Petey


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## rice613

we need some stops to make a run. cmon nuggets!
down 60-67


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## ToddMacCulloch11

Kmart with 12 points now. He's make a few in a row.


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## rice613

damn grizzlies wont let us fastbreak. this isn't good


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## Petey

Anyone know why KMart's minutes are so limited tonight?

-Petey


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## ToddMacCulloch11

Petey said:


> Anyone know why KMart's minutes are so limited tonight?
> 
> -Petey


 I guess since he's coming back from injury. I'm pretty sure this is his first game back, right?


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## rice613

it's because he's returning from a chest injury. karl prob doesnt want him to reaggravate it right before the playoffs


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## Petey

Cardinal comes in for Gasol, good thing for the Nuggets, appear Gasol pn a bit of a roll.

-Petey


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## rice613

grizzlies won't let up. we're still down by 8. 1:54


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## ToddMacCulloch11

Kmart with another 14 points for him now.


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## Anima

Petey said:


> Anyone know why KMart's minutes are so limited tonight?
> 
> -Petey


I was wondering the same thing...


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## Anima

Cardinal fouled by Miller, makes 1-2.


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## rice613

were getting outrebounded 21-29 that's the main problem i see. anthony has 4 fouls otherwise he could change this game.. he's on fire


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## Anima

Wells missed both?


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## rice613

cmon earl! 0 for 4 and missed both free throws! we need u man


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## ToddMacCulloch11

Grizzlies are up 76-70 going into the 4th. Still anyones game.


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## rice613

wells misses both ft . wut a lucky break, and we enter 4th down 76-70. we need tha run dammit


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## ToddMacCulloch11

Kenyon hits another to start the 4th.


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## Anima

Wells misses a layup.

He seems very off tonight.


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## Anima

Najera with a block on Watson.


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## rice613

boykins 0 for 5. good thing kmart is picking up the slack. we need some defense!


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## Anima

Wright has played a TON of minutes for the Grizz tonight.


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## rice613

boykins first fg. finally broke the ice. 1 for 7. we need him to go on fire and jumpstart this offense


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## Anima

Boykins with a layup, I think those are his first points tonight...


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## ToddMacCulloch11

2 point game after boykins lays one in.


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## Anima

Person picks up his 3rd.


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## Kunlun

Come on guys, let's rally for a fourth quarter comeback! Only down six with a whole quarter to go.


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## rice613

we had a chance to tie or take the lead.. just lost it. more stops!


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## Anima

The Nuggets have commited 12 more fouls on the Grizz?!?!?!?


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## rice613

here's the nuggets defense ive come to love 76-76. go earl


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## Anima

Boykins with another basket.


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## Anima

Tie game at 76-76 all.


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## cpawfan

alright 76 all

Lets go Nuggets

Thanks to everyone for making this a great game thread. Keep on posting


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## Kunlun

Awesome! Now to break away...


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## Anima

Damn you Battier!!!!


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## BaLLiStiX17

Petey said:


> Anyone know why KMart's minutes are so limited tonight?
> 
> -Petey


I guess there being cautious and dont want to make his injury worse..


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## rice613

sigh.. it seems like camby's old injuries are still bothering him. we really need him out their controolling the lane for us.


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## Anima

Miller with a jumper, Grizz up 4.


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## cpawfan

Kenyon back in the game, come on Nuggets


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## rice613

yeah boykins is really off tonite. 2 for 10. kmart and carmelo are doing well . both shooting well over 50%


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## rice613

cmon nuggets. this reminds me of their 2nd game.. we seemed dead but somehow came back


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## cpawfan

Time out 5:32 mark and the Nuggets are trailing 78-80


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## Anima

Miller with the shooting foul,


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## rice613

grizzlies play tough D. i didnt know they were this good. i kmean i know they're a good team, but theyve shut down our offense pretty well


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## rice613

please make both and tie the game


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## Anima

Boykins makes both, tie game.


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## rice613

80-80 !


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## BaLLiStiX17

rice613 said:


> grizzlies play tough D. i didnt know they were this good. i kmean i know they're a good team, but theyve shut down our offense pretty well


there defence is ok..but were still shooting 50% and thats pretty good


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## cpawfan

Shooting
Denver: 35/70, 2/10 & 6/8 - 19 assists
Memphis: 30/66, 3/15 & 17/24 - 13 assists

Rebounds 32-38

Fouls: 25-13, something smells funny


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## BaLLiStiX17

sweet winning by 2 now


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## rice613

now lets take the lead and keep it


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## Kunlun

We take the lead!! Go Nuggets!!


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## rice613

we're getting owned on fouls for sure. stupid officiating. but we're getting stops!


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## cpawfan

Kenyon with the Jumper and the Nuggets go up 82-80


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## rice613

we have the defensive reb and a chance to close the game


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## Anima

Miller picks up his 3rd foul.


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## BaLLiStiX17

wow 26 fouls..


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## rice613

earl messes it up again (sorry earl, just a little pissed at your craoppy fg%) but we're still up 2


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## Anima

Melo witth the dunk!!!!


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## cpawfan

Mike Miller returns the favor and misses two free throws


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## BaLLiStiX17

Nice pass by miller


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## cpawfan

Melo with ally oop dunk 84-80


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## rice613

sweet m miller misses both. anthony takes charge and we're up 4!


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## Anima

Wright with the off. board and layup. 

Grizz within 2.


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## rice613

uh oh. theyre down 2 with a chance to close to one if wright make sit


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## cpawfan

Time out 1:51 mark and Denver is up 86-84.

Wright will be going to the line for an and 1 after the time out


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## rice613

everyone pray he misses and we get the reb and make the shot


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## BaLLiStiX17

Timeout Denver 1:51


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## rice613

only 1:51 left.. i know i predicted itd be close, but this is nervewracking. omg anthnoy is having a great game, please win


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## rice613

he misses we have a chance to close


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## cpawfan

Come on Nuggets. You can over come this foul disparity and the rebounding gap


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## rice613

j will fouls. whoever's going to the line make both or 1


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## ToddMacCulloch11

Man, I went to go make a phone call and it was nuggets down 2. Come back and now they're up three. Hopefully they can hang on.


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## cpawfan

Nice job Kenyon, way to follow up that missed FT


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## Kunlun

I think it's over guys, just hold on to the lead and the game is yours. Nice little comeback in the fourth.


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## rice613

i love u kmart. did u guys see that he pulled in miller's missed ft and mae the shot.


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## Anima

Gasol fouled and makes both.


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## cpawfan

They can afford to trade baskets now

91-86 with 55 seconds left


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## rice613

hahah i love andre miller too. he hads really stepped up these past 6-8 games


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## BaLLiStiX17

Yeah they just have to waste the time now..and get there ft if they start getting fouled


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## Anima

Don't let Miller shoot the 3!!!!


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## Kunlun

****! Don't let them make a three! Guard the perimeter!!


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## ToddMacCulloch11

tie out grizzlies, 14 seconds left. They're gonna have to go for the three here.


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## cpawfan

Time out with 15 seconds left and the Nuggets are up 91-88


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## BaLLiStiX17

Memphis Timeout 0:15..they should keep tight on Jason Williams


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## rice613

15 secs we're up 3. DEFENSE!


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## cpawfan

This game will cost Earl votes for the 6th man of the year award


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## ToddMacCulloch11

Pau went for the three?


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## cpawfan

:clap: :clap: Big rebound be Camby after Gasol missed the 3


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## rice613

careful. cardianl, miller and j will can all take the shot


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## ToddMacCulloch11

And camby makes it a 5 point game with 6 seconds left.


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## rice613

nvm. camby all but iced the game. hell yah we win


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## BaLLiStiX17

gg guys 5 sec left camby at the line


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## cpawfan

Camby with two huge FT's

93-88 and 5 seconds left


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## Kunlun

Why the hell did Gasol take the three?


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## Anima

Up 5 with 6 seconds left.

Looks like this game is in the bag.


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## rice613

this game was pretty scary.. close all the way tot he 4th. i guess we just had more energy despite the officiating we still win (or should win. there's still 5 secs)


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## HogsFan1188

Conrats....yall have now seen the grizz choke first hand twice this season.


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## cpawfan

Rats, Battier hits a 3 93-91


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## ToddMacCulloch11

battier hits the three to add to the drama.


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## cpawfan

Dre at the line and makes the first and misses the second


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## rice613

oh this is the first game we didnt score 100 or more. im not sure how long the current streak was.. since the start of our homestand i think. oh and also with the win we take the series 3-0 from grizzlies. lol we almost move one whole game up.


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## ToddMacCulloch11

Miller goes 1 of 2 from the line. 3 point game, 2 seconds left.


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## rice613

wow. 1.3 secs left. they can still hit a 3 to go to ot.


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## ToddMacCulloch11

cardinal misses the three!


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## rice613

Nuggets Win!!!!!!!!!!


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## ToddMacCulloch11

Nice comeback by the Nuggets


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## Kunlun

Nuggets win!! 94-91. Good game guys.


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## rice613

final score: 94-91. kmart and anthony were huge today. both combining to score 44 pts. while shooting over 50% for both and hitting all ft's. they also both played less than 30 mins. 28 and 29. earl was not so great, but he still hit the ft's in the 4th quarter. andre was consitent as always, and camby had an off night. but still managed to grab that last reb and hit 2 crucial free throws. good win.


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## cpawfan

As they say about the NCAA tournament "survive and advance"

Nuggets pull it out and now own the tie breaker for the season over Memphis. No time to rest though, need 3 more victories this week.


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## rice613

haha wow i think i posted at least 50 times in this game forum. hmm now ill go root the warriors on. if they beat houston we're one step closer to that 6th seed.


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## Kuskid

Well, I'm back. Watched the whole game, and it really did have a playoff feel to it. Couple of scares, but a good job gutting it out on the road, where we've been less than solid over the course of the season. Pau's 3 scared the bejesus outta me (hehe, always liked that word). Now we need to put away the game at home, and that 7 seed should be plenty reachable barring a complete collapse over the last couple games. The only thing that sorta scared me was Earl's "keep shooting" mentality. Not all of those 11 misses were the best shot we could've gotten on that particular possession. But whatever, he's still one of my favorite players. We were outrebounded 44-39, but a pretty nice overall team effort rebounding (at least on the defensive end). We were one Marcus Camby monster rebounding night away from a great night on the boards. But we took care of business on the road against a WC playoff team, can't ask for much more than that.


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## cpawfan

rice613 said:


> haha wow i think i posted at least 50 times in this game forum. hmm now ill go root the warriors on. if they beat houston we're one step closer to that 6th seed.


I just checked, you actually had 56 posts. :greatjob:


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## BaLLiStiX17

cpawfan said:


> I just checked, you actually had 56 posts. :greatjob:


lol i think i posted like 5 times here :allhail:


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## Kuskid

Ah, only 2 here But they were a freakin' solid two posts! Ahh, I'll be around for the game tomorrow night in New Orleans though. This one really shouldn't be anything sort of a gimme, but you never know. Hope to see everybody who was here tonight then.


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## cpawfan

Melo and Karl were both interviewed on ESPN2 (each was interviewed seperatly)

Karl was thrilled with the win and Melo stated that he knows Karl is going to stop pushing him until he is an excellent defender.


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## cpawfan

Just saw the replay of Gasol's missed 3. The Nuggets got lucky since Gasol had drifted out to the line and Kenyon was still near the paint attempting to double. Gasol was wide open for that 3.


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## G-Force

Another impressive road win. Way to come through in the fourth quarter. You guys made Minnesota happy tonight. Memphis betta look out.

G-Force


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