![[Photo Courtesy of CBS Sports]](http://lightningrodsports.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/durant-2.jpg)
[Photo Courtesy of CBS Sports]
Last night might as well be a mismatch. The Thunder had an easy time of dispatching the Nuggets in their 105-93 victory last night at the Pepsi Center. The score reflected the disparity of both basketball teams in a nutshell.
The Thunder beat the Nuggets on a night that had Kevin Durant scoring 30 points, and Russell Westbrook scoring 21 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists. Games like last night explain what stars can do for a team.
The Nuggets are hard-pressed to find anyone on their roster that can match the play of couple of Thunder’s stars. As good as Ty Lawson and Danilo Gallinari are, they are too inconsistent by being streaky players.
The Nuggets are a team that plays with maximum effort. That should be good enough to make the playoffs, but it’s not good enough to win a playoff series. The Nuggets need that go-to scorer that can dominate a game, especially in the fourth quarter. Nuggets coach Brian Shaw knows that as much as anyone since he watched Kobe Bryant do his thing as a Lakers assistant coach and Paul George breaking out as a good shooter last year as a Pacers assistant coach.
It has to be discouraging for the Nuggets to know they never had a chance when Durant and Westbrook were making shots after shots in the game. Watching those two do their thing, they made it look easy. It was like watching professionals at work. They showed the Nuggets how it was done.
It’s funny former Nuggets coach George Karl believed he can win a championship with a Nuggets team without superstars. Either he was in denial or delusional. The guess is the former since he has been around the game long enough to know the NBA is about superstars. He was trying to tell everyone that the team could win with character players in light of Carmelo Anthony being traded.
That’s a noble thought, but results tell a different story. While the Nuggets made the playoffs without Anthony three times, they haven’t won a playoff series without their former star. They lost to the Thunder, Lakers and Warriors for a reason. Those three respectively teams had a star in Durant, Kobe Bryant and Stephen Curry that took over a game while the Nuggets couldn’t find one. That’s the difference.
Anthony was not in the level of Durant. He was a streaky shooter, but the Nuggets had a chance to beat elite teams since he can dominate a game on a given night. He did that at times.
Chauncey Billups was another star that was a go-to guy. He made Anthony’s job easy by making shots in the fourth quarter when both played together. He was why the Nuggets advanced to the Western Conference Finals in 2009.
The Nuggets have to find that go-to guy if they are ever going to win a championship. Shaw can coach his tail off, but he knows if he doesn’t have a player of the caliber of Durant and Westbrook, he has no chance to get a championship ring as a coach.
All Shaw can do is wonder when he will get one after watching couple of Thunder superstars torch his team in the third quarter that help put the game away.
After the Nuggets spent most of the game playing catch-up to the point they made it a 60-58 game in the third quarter, Westbrook hit a jumper follow by Durant making both free throws. Then, the Thunder point guard made a layup follow by Durant hitting a three-pointer. Before the Nuggets coach knows it, it was 71-61 after Nick Collison made a layup.
When the Thunder took an 80-67 lead in the fourth quarter, it was over for the Nuggets.
Superstars can hurt the other team by putting the game away, and that’s what the Thunder’s stars demonstrated. There’s nothing the Nuggets can do if they don’t have the players to respond back, and that’s what was striking about last night’s game.
Effort and coaching can only do so much for the Nuggets. They are not beating any elite teams this season, and if they make the postseason, they will be out in the first round against a great Western Conference team that features a franchise player.
At least, the Nuggets don’t have to tank to get that player in the draft this season. They have the Knicks to thank by being inept this season, and odds are great they will miss the playoffs. The Nuggets get the Knicks’ 2014 pick after the Knicks were stupid enough to trade that pick for Anthony.
Maybe the Nuggets can find their Durant or Westbrook by getting a top five pick this coming summer.
Contact or follow Leslie Monteiro at @LightRodWriter.
Leslie Monteiro
Leslie is a contributor for Lightning Rod Sports. He covered high school sports in Bergen County out in North Jersey, and has written op-ed columns on sports such as Bleacher Report and NY Sports Digest.
