Denver @ Cleveland : Game 8

[corona]

Key Matchup:

This will be the first time in Lebron's career he ends the game with 0/0/0

Last Meeting: February 10th, 2008
113-83 Denver victory
Melo & AI combined for 52 with Iverson also adding 13 assists and 0 turnovers.
Smith went 6/11 from 3 off the bench.
Cleveland shot just 34% from the field (i believe it was the last game of a long Western swing for them)

Denver: 4-3
Kmart's missed the last two games with a bruised wrist, but should be good to go for this one.
Andersen will miss 2-3 weeks (from November 9th)
Atkins is out awhile longer after undergoing knee surgery before training camp.
Hunter's out with another knee surgery that may end his career.

Keys to winning:
Rebound from the tip. Need to stop allowing 10-15 first quarter points on second shot opportunities.
Stop penetration by Lebron. (that's what she said)

Last 5 Games:
W Charlotte
W Memphis
W Dallas
L Warriors
L Lakers

Cleveland: 6-1
Are said to be interested in signing Antonio Mcdyess.

Last 5 Games:
W Milwaukee
W Chicago
W Indiana
W Chicago
W Dallas

Photos:






Game Notes:
http://www.nba.com/nuggets/news/notes.pdf
http://www.nba.com/cavaliers/news/notes.pdf

Game Chat:
http://nuggets.proboards1.com/index.cgi?action=chat

[Peanut]

SHOW US THAT DEFENSE MELO MAN!

[legendarywalton]

Anyone have our final defensive efficiency stats from last year? We're currently at 98.6 PP100, which is 8th best in the association. We're averaging 101.6 possessions per game which is tops in the league. I don't think we understand how well the nuggets are really playing on the defensive end.

By the same token, Boston and LA are just absolutely incredible defensive teams. We should be very encouraged how tough we played the Lakers, but I don't see us beating either defending conference champion this year.

Let's hope Balkman can slow Lebron down and that JR and Kleiza can come to life. Cleveland is much more physical and much bigger than Charlotte, so I doubt we'll win the rebounding matchup. I don't see us winning this one, but if Melo and Billups can play efficient offensive basketball, we might have a shot.

[eathy]

this is a must win game... as i dont see us beating the Celtics back to back.

The cavs are our bitches... so lets get the record to 9-2.

[corona]

Anyone have our final defensive efficiency stats from last year?

106.3 points against per 100 possessions.
http://www.knickerblogger.net/stats/2008/

if the yahoo stats have been updated....we're 4th in opponent fg%, and 2nd in opponent 3fg%.

quite the transformation from last season.

would still like to see the tempo slowed by ~8 possessions a game.

[Peanut]

this is a must win game... as i dont see us beating the Celtics back to back.

The cavs are our bitches... so lets get the record to 9-2.

Sorry, Conorna about the cursing. I'll stop that.

Anyway, why did you jinx us?

[DNIsLeGiT]

If were going to win this game we need jr to come alive and provide some scoring off the bench and hopefully balkman can contain james. If melo and chauncey and nene are rolling i like our chances because we been playing the cavs well in the past and hopefully that will continue.

I agree with eathy about us needing to win this game because i don't like our chances against the celtics on the second night of a back to back.

[Don_eMOCION#31]

Cleveland: 6-1
Are said to be interested in signing Antonio Mcdyess.

like nearly any other team in the whole nba

btw. LET's got for 4th straight win! does anybody know how the actual Melo VS Bron stats are? i think melo dominated bron bron ... was is about 10-2 for melo ? can't remember clearly, somebody help pls

[PeTBuLL]

That´s should be a critical game, Cleveland has a "east final potential" team, they have a Mo Will, Lebron and Big Z for offense, Big Ben and Varejera for defense and Wally for 3, we will need a special night for everyone in our line up, Kennyon need´s to play to gain attention of Cleveleand defense and make more easy the job for Melo and Nene, Billups has to make his special bomb´s from downtown!

[pickaxe]

Cleveland: 6-1
Are said to be interested in signing Antonio Mcdyess.

like nearly any other team in the whole nba

btw. LET's got for 4th straight win! does anybody know how the actual Melo VS Bron stats are? i think melo dominated bron bron ... was is about 10-2 for melo ? can't remember clearly, somebody help pls

Melo's aren't quite as high across the board, but he is doing the little things each game. Some nights he's passing, some nights rebounding. Quite a few of his shots have been blocked so far, so he needs to improve on faking out the defender. He needs to remember unless he's doing the zig-zag blur drive to the basket he's an easy target to a hungry defender.

[pickaxe]

Is there any way we can get Mutombo over here? He definitely no slouch.

[Benedict_Boozer]

Bron has been rolling lately - but the Nuggets own the Cavs the last couple years so it should be an interesting game for sure.

JR Smith should have a good game off the bench because the Cavs SG's are undersized (Delonte West/Boobie Gibson), he will be able to get clean looks off the dribble and on the perimeter.

[MHZ]

JR Smith hasn't played well the last few games, so I really hope he can bring it.

[el loco]

Anyone have our final defensive efficiency stats from last year?

106.3 points against per 100 possessions.
http://www.knickerblogger.net/stats/2008/

if the yahoo stats have been updated....we're 4th in opponent fg%, and 2nd in opponent 3fg%.

quite the transformation from last season.

would still like to see the tempo slowed by ~8 possessions a game.

Wow, if I didn't see 3fg% ranking, I never would I have guessed that. In the Dallas game, the Mavs made a living on us from behind the arc in the entire second half of that game.

I am still waiting for the offense to break out as a team with most of the team having an on game. All of our games have been close. A few easy wins would be really nice while we are waiting for a couple of guys to get healthy.

[RRFB]

This game will be a good measuring stick as to where we are as a team. We've always played the Cavs well, but they're definitely better than any team we've played since the Chauncey trade. A break-out game from JR would be nice here, he's been pretty disappointing so far.

[Don_eMOCION#31]

oh boy that one is hot Corona

This will be the first time in Lebron's career he ends the game with 0/0/0

GO NUGGETS ! 4th straight win very much needed

btw: anybody noticed east and westcoast are very balanced this year

[MHZ]

Have we heard anything more concrete on Kenyon? Last I saw, he was "optimistic" that he'd play tonight. I'll be surprised if he doesn't, frankly, but just wondering if we've heard anything a little more concrete.

[MHZ]

I'll answer my own question, losers.

CLEVELAND — Denver power forward Kenyon Martin (sprained wrist) said at today's shootaround that he remains a game-time decision for tonight's matchup at Cleveland.

"I'm going to get treatment before the game and see how it feels," Martin said.

Coach George Karl said "my gut says he'll play, but he's still sore and tender," but Karl also pointed out that the Cavaliers generally play with a smaller lineup, which means Denver could get away with resting Martin tonight compared to, say, Friday at Boston.

http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_10974988

[Shady08]

I sure hope K-Mart plays, we need him...

[pistonsnuggets]

yeah we need him to play some defense on lebron when carmelo cant