Nuggets Start Season 0-3 After 4th Quarter Collapse to Spurs

It was a game of promise up until the 4th quarter for the Nuggets, But Tony Parker and Tim Duncan sealed the deal for the Spurs, defeating the Nuggets at the Pepsi Center, 102-94.

The Denver Nuggets were out-working the San Antonio Spurs in almost every category. Shooting 9-for-15 behind-the-arc, and out-rebounding the Spurs 39-25, it was looking like Denver had this in the bag.

The Denver Nuggets started off the game red-hot against last year’s Western Conference Champion San Antonio Spurs. JaVale McGee started the game with an and-one, then Randy Foye came back down and knocked down a 3-ball putting the Nuggets up 6-2, everything was going right. Then fan favorite Kenneth “Manimal” Faried threw an alley-oop to JaVale McGee, bringing the fans at the Pepsi Center to their feet. Foye then knocked down another three pointer giving Denver a 11-2 run. Spurs coach Greg Popovich showed faith in his veteran San Antonio Spurs team by not calling a time-out. They bounced right back as the Nuggets committed 12-first half turnovers, three of them coming from J.J. Hickson, who was benched in favor of Kenneth Faried prior to the game. Tim Duncan and Tony Parker combined for 22 first half points, and leading a 17-4 run. Denver ended up leading the Spurs 27-24 after the first quarter, after Jordan Hamilton went 2-for-2, with a three pointer.

The second quarter was controlled by the Nuggets, outscoring the Spurs 25-19. Denver went on a 10-2 run sparked by Kenneth Faried, who had six of the ten. San Antonio clawed back again, with Tim Duncan scoring an and-one, and Matt Bonner hitting a three. But Denver controlled the momentum with a Faried jumper, and Andre Miller knocking down two three-pointers. Denver finished the half with Ty Lawson getting fouled, hitting both free-throws to put the Nuggets up 52-43. The team was shooting lights-out, 50% from the field, 5-of-9 from three, while San Antonio was struggling, shooting 35.6%, and 2-for-7 from behind-the-arc.

The 3rd quarter started with great ball movement from the Spurs, leading to a Tiago Splitter lay-up. But Denver came out firing from deep, Jordan Hamilton, Randy Foye, and Ty Lawson put on a show as they knocked down three after three. JaVale McGee earned more minutes from Brian Shaw, but failed to be a threat. He fouled Tony Parker collecting his 4th foul, forcing him to the bench. He finished with 9 points, and 7 rebounds. Nuggets were a turnover machine as questionable forced passes from Nate Robinson led to a Kawai Leonard dunk, bringing the Spurs to within seven. Boris Diaw finished the 3rd with a lay-up, bringing the Denver lead to 78-72 entering the fourth.

4th quarter was a disaster for the Nuggets; Patrick Mills started it off with a jump shot, followed by a foul on Jeff Ayers, formerly known as Jeff Pendergraph. A questionable no-call as Ty Lawson was driving to the hole and Danny Green clearly made contact and knocked him to the ground, the Spurs fed off of that. They outscored the Nuggets 30-16 in the 4th, as Denver couldn’t buy a bucket. The defense was a mess, and they were having a hard time getting a call. The Spurs put the Nuggets away, behind Tony Parker’s 24 points, 6 assist performance, going 18-of-20 from the line (90.0%).

Kenneth Faried provided the Nuggets with a spark as he started his first game this season. He went 7-for-14 from the field, finishing with 15 points, and 8 rebounds. Also, Jordan Hamilton with his first start gave the Nuggets a deep-threat, going 3-for-3 from behind-the-arc, and finishing with 11 points.

The Nuggets were far too careless in the game, coughing up the ball 22 times, that’s unacceptable. Despite shooting 9-for-19 from deep, the Nuggets failed to score consistently in the half-court in the 4th quarter. Maybe it’s because they’re missing knock-down shooters in Danilo Gallinari and Wilson Chandler, but they seemed to be too hesitant in taking shots down the stretch. However, they did outscore the Spurs in the paint 54-to-30. They need to find that go-to scorer with Gallo and Chandler out, or it will be a long season.

What’s Up Next: The Denver Nuggets (0-3) will host the Atlanta Hawks (2-2), Thursday night at the Pepsi Center.