No Need To Hit Panic Button for Nuggets

We have seen this story before. The 2012-13 Denver Nuggets that finished 57-25, started their season 0-3, and the Nuggets have started this season 0-2 this year. Don’t freak out just yet.

With disappointing losses to Philadelphia, Orlando, and then to the eventual NBA Champion Miami Heat, the Nuggs didn’t start the season great last year either. So far this season, the Nuggets have fallen to the Sacramento Kings, and the Portland Trailblazers. Under newly hired head coach Brian Shaw’s half-court offense, it is expected to take time for this Nuggets team to gel, especially with four new players, give them time.

In their season opener in Sacramento, the Nuggets got off to a slow start. The team was sloppy to say the least, starting out with a 3-second violation, screening while out-of- bounds call, defensive 3-seconds, accumulating 4-turnovers just five-minutes into the game. Even though both teams were rusty to start the game, it was an even match-up until the 2nd quarter when Kings point-guard Isaiah Thomas came off the bench sparking the team with a 3-pointer, helping the Kings to a 13-point lead. But Denver responded quickly going on a 17-7 run to trail by 3 at half, with help from backup point-guard Andre Miller scoring six of the seventeen. While the Nuggets led the Kings after outscoring them 27-22 in the 3rd quarter, center JaVale McGee was ineffective to say the least, and was in foul trouble, totaling 10 minutes of game-time. He couldn’t handle Kings center DeMarcus Cousins, who outmuscled the Nuggets. He ended up racking up 30 points, and pulling down 14 rebounds. In the fourth-quarter, the Kings outscored the Nuggets 20-16. Kings forward Jason Thompson sealed the game with a put-back slam, where the Nuggets failed to box him out. That dunk proved to be the game-winner as Ty Lawson missed a reverse lay-up to tie it up. Ty Lawson and J.J. Hickson were impressive in the season debut. Lawson added 20 points, 8 assists, and 5 rebounds, while Hickson had 12 points, and 9 rebounds. There were positives for the Nuggets coming off this loss, in which they were 15-for-17 on free-throws (88.2%), which they struggled at mightily last season. Randy Foye proved he could be an upgrade over Andre Iguodola on the offensive end, going 2-for-5 from deep, with a total of 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting. The Nuggets also totaled 23 fast-break points, something they thrived in George Karl’s fast-paced offense.

In their home opener to the Portland Trailblazers, the Nuggets caught them at the wrong time. They fell to the Trailblazers 113-98, snapping their 23 game consecutive home winning streak. The tandem of Nicolas Batum and Wesley Matthews proved to be too much for the Nuggets, they combined for 9-of-12 from deep, 15-of-27 from the field, accumulating 42 points. The Nuggets were playing catch up for most of the game trailing by 26 at one point. You have to give credit to where it’s due, Portland shot lights-out. The team as a whole shot 14-for-22 (63.6%), and outscored the Nuggets in the paint 50-32, due in-large part to LaMarcus Aldridge. Aldridge ended up finishing with a game-high 25 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 assists, giving J.J. Hickson and Darrell Arthur fits. While Nate Robinson went 0-for-5 in his Nuggets debut, he bounced back against Portland, sparking the Nuggets in the fourth-quarter, finishing with 24 points and 7 rebounds. Center JaVale McGee was in-effective for the 2nd straight-game, finishing with 6 points in just 13 minutes. It was sort-of a homecoming for J.J. Hickson facing his former team, but he got caught up in the emotion. He finished 2-of-13 from the field, grabbing nine rebounds, and was torched by LaMarcus Aldridge in the final minutes. He seemed as if he was trying to do a little too much. Ty Lawson put in another valiant effort, finishing with 21 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists.

The 0-2 start isn’t something to go over the edge about, we saw it happen last year, but Denver is missing two of their three top scorers in Wilson Chandler and Danilo Gallinari. Chandler has been out since pre-season with a nagging hamstring injury, who is eyeing a return later in the week. Gallinari on the other hand will be out until late-November to early-December after having knee surgery at the end of the 2012-13’ season. Once these two are back and healthy in the line-up, expect the Nuggets to be a more complete team, with a variety of lineups and scoring depth on the bench. Right now, they have to find a way to win as a team, and so far they have come up short in Sacramento, and caught the Trailblazers at the wrong time.

One thing the Nuggets do need to work on however is when they are screened on defense. They have been atrocious defending the three, allowing teams to shoot 51.2% through two games, ranked last in the league. They keep getting stuck in screens, and no one is hedging. This is something to watch for in the next couple of games as the Nuggets take on the Spurs, Hawks, and Suns this week. Also, Nuggets will start Jordan Hamilton at small-forward, and Kenneth Faried at power-forward against the San Antonio Spurs.

What’s Up Next: Denver (0-2) will be hosting the San Antonio Spurs (2-1) Tuesday night at the Pepsi Center.