Tuesday, January 18, 2005
GAME 37: NUGGETS 116, SUPERSONICS 110 (OT)
Nuggets 116, SuperSonics 110 (OT)
(swap Radmanovic and Lewis in the SportsLine boxscore for the starting lineup)
(final content posted ~10:32p)
Here's what I have for tonight's game. Postgame thoughts are below the in-game stuff, and set apart by three dashes.
As we knew before the game, Nene was not going to play for the Nuggets due to his suspension. However, Rashard Lewis has suited up and Kenyon Martin is a late scratch with strep throat, and Vitaly Potapenko is out with a stomach ailment. Yikes. Rashard's re-insertion into the lineup gives the Sonics the same lineup they had from the beginning of the season until Reggie Evans had that vicious GI tract ailment.
1st qtr
10:26 Ridnour left side long jumper first Sonic basket DEN 4-2. 8:34 James offensive rebound, goes to rack and fouled, hits both DEN 6-4. 7:08 DEN 12-4, Nuggets driving the rack at will, Sonics not putting hands in the faces of open shooters. 5:22 Lewis three left side DEN 17-11. 4:55 baseline turnaround Lewis jumper DEN 17-13. 3:57 Allen feed to Radmanovic in lane for easy slam DEN 19-15. 3:20 Radmanovic unguarded three after ball movement DEN 21-18. 0:58 Radmanovic stuffs Elson.
After one quarter -- Denver 23, Seattle 22
The Sonics started out pretty cold shootingwise, and one step slow defensively. Luckily they got it back in step a bit, culminating defensively in the Radmanovic block of Francisco Elson, just seconds after the Sonics lost the ball not long after the inbound. Four Danny Fortson free throws over the last 48 seconds got the Sonics to within two at the end of the quarter.
2nd qtr
11:57 Daniels drives lane, hits high layup SEA 24-23, first Sonic lead. 11:02 Daniels on a jumper SEA 26-23. 10:27 Daniels for three off a screen, he's warming up...SEA 29-25. 9:12 Fortson gets a tipped ball off a miss, lays in SEA 33-27. 8:36 Fortson cleans up his own miss. 6:39 Vlad finishes off fast break with dunk SEA 39-29.3:07 Lewis from the right corner three SEA 46-33. 2:05 transition Ridnour lob Rashard slam SEA 48-33. 1:41 Ridnour finds Rashard AGAIN on the break for a slam SEA 50-35. 0:55.3 Radmanovic turnaround baseline jumphook SEA 52-38.
Halftime -- Seattle 52, Denver 42
Well, what a great second quarter by the Sonics. Antonio Daniels was on, the Sonics shot better, and the team cranked it up on defense, as the Nuggets were having trouble getting any easy shots. Their only true offense of the first half was Marcus Camby drilling jumpers from around the top of the key.
Half stats
team shooting 20-for-40 (50%) from the field, perfect in 8 attempts from the line, 4-for-13 from downtown (30%)
Antonio Daniels had 13 pts, Rashard Lewis 12, Vladimir Radmanovic 9 (6 reb), Danny Fortson 8. Radmanovic and Fortson both lead the team in rebounds with 6.
Lewis had some very nice moves and he's been a big factor in the offense, which is good considering his knee tendinitis. Judging by the results and how well he seems to be moving, I'm hardly able to tell he has knee tendinitis at all.
The good thing about Lewis scoring 12 and Daniels going nuts is that it makes up for Ray Allen only being 2-for-7 from the field; he only scored 4 in the first half.
3rd qtr
10:43 James runs floor and STUFFS Camby on the fast break. 8:31 Lewis three SEA 59-50. Sonics losing a few balls, missing a few baskets, Nuggets hitting layins on fast breaks, catching up. 5:50 Miller fast break layup, Nuggets have hit 7 of 9 shots. 4:51 James turnaround jumper in lane SEA 63-58. 4:22 Lewis hits cutting Radmanovic for easy layup SEA 65-58. 3:17 Ridnour nice driving layup SEA 67-60. 1:44 NUGGETS INEXPLICABLY TIE GAME 69-69.
After three quarters -- Seattle 71, Denver 69
How to sum up that third quarter? Well, the Sonics shot something like 33 or 35% in the quarter, so that's not good. Compound that with a drop in proficience on the offensive boards, and you get the Nuggets getting fast breaks every time you look at the television. Also, Ray Allen is shooting 5-for-15 from the floor tonight. Let's see if the fourth quarter really is the one that matters tonight for Ray.
4th qtr
10:55 Carmelo Anthony down after crumbling in a heap; heads to the locker room. 9:48 Boykins WIDE-OPEN THREE DEN 74-73, answered by Radmanovic three. 8:29 Radmanovic THREE after broken play with bodies down (Denver four missed shots in close) SEA 79-74. 7:47 Ridnour no-look to Fortson for layup down low, fouled, hits SEA 82-74. 5:11 Daniels misses, gone dead cold after hitting first six shots. 4:40 Allen can't hit FREE THROWS either, splits pair SEA 85-83. 4:09 RADMANOVIC THREE SEA 88-85, his fourth three-ball of the game. 3:13 Sonics over the limit. 2:21 Allen to the line, drawing contact hits two SEA 90-89, answered by Russell three. 1:50 Lewis cleans up driving Allen miss TIE 92-92. 1:23 DANIELS THREE, shaking off the cobwebs SEA 95-92. 1:08 Miller loses the ball on offense, only their second turnover of the half. 0:01.8 Camby tips in, TIES GAME at 95-95. 0:00 Allen bricks falling away out of bounds, he's 5-for-20.
After regulation -- Denver 95, Seattle 95
Man, Denver's really hanging in there. Marcus Camby looks like an absolute world-beater tonight. He's got his 3rd career game of 20 points and 20 rebounds. I'm sure this doesn't signify much good when it comes to the Sonics' interior defense, but oh well. All in all, the Sonics have allowed 27 and 26 points in the 3rd and 4th quarters in this game.
OT
THE MOTHERF*%&ING EARL BOYKINS SHOW (13 pts in the qtr). 0:58.7 Allen three his first basket of 4th/OT DEN 108-102.
Final -- Denver 116, Seattle 110 (OT)
---
I thought the damn Nuggets were the team that played last night? What the hell happened out there? No Nene, no Kenyon Martin, and Carmelo Anthony twists an ankle in the fourth quarter, but the Nuggets still pull it out.
I'm incredibly ticked off by this one.
The Sonics let this one get away. They had a decent lead in the third quarter and they failed to put the Nuggets away.
How did it happen?
Well, if Ray Allen bricked a billion shots, so that didn't help. As for how the offensive rebounding went, I'll give you a hint -- the Sonics had just one more offensive rebound than Allen had missed shots. Also, Marcus Camby had well over 20 boards, so you can guess that most of those probably were on the defensive side for him.
So what happens when you miss a bunch of shots and Marcus Camby is rebounding everything? The Nuggets go on the fast break, they turn it into a track meet for a bit, and they eventually get the lead for a bit and push it into overtime, where the Munchkin (Charles Barkley's words, not mine) carries the team on his back and gets them the win.
Embarrassing.
The sick part is, the Sonics had some good rebounding numbers, Fortson had another good night on the boards, Evans got into double digits, and Radmanovic was rebounding well too, but they just didn't get the offensive boards they needed at the right moments. I know you can't plan to completely take a team out of the fast break for a game, but it seemed for a couple minutes' span there that the Nuggets were turning every other missed Sonic shot into a track-meet fast-break layup on the other end, and that whittled the lead away very quickly.
What's really disturbing for me is that there were a few ill-timed missed free throws. What's really disturbing is the guys who missed them -- Danny Fortson and Ray Allen. If either of those guys just sinks one more free throw in the fourth quarter, well, it doesn't end up tied at the end of the fourth quarter.
Basically, Ray Allen was terrible, Antonio Daniels was torrid in the second quarter and cooled off bigtime, Rashard Lewis was solid for coming off knee tendinitis...
...but it seemed that Danny Fortson wasn't having his way down low like we're used to seeing. That goes for all of the Sonics' frontcourt, really. How else does Marcus Camby explode for a 20/20 night? I'll give credit where credit is due, but damn...
PEEK AT THE BOXSCORE
starters
Rashard Lewis 17 pts/7 reb/2 ast (7-17 FG, 3-10 3pt, no free throws), Ray Allen 17 pts/5 reb/3 ast (6-22 FG, 1-8 3pt, 4-6 free throws), Luke Ridnour 8 pts (4-13 FG, no free throws), Reggie Evans 1 pt/10 reb (21 min)
bench
Vlad Radmanovic 25 pts/9 reb (10-19 FG, 4-9 3pt), Antonio Daniels 20 pts/2 reb/5 ast (8-12 FG, 2-3 3pt), Danny Fortson 16 pts/9 reb (5-7 FG, 6-7 free throws, 26 min), Nick Collison 2 pts/1 reb (13 min)
Jerome James Watch
4 pts/4 reb/1 blk (12 min)
team
shot 41-for-93 from the field (44.1%), shot 10-for-31 from downtown (32.3%), shot 18-for-23 from the line (78.3%, Denver went 29-for-32 for 90.6%), outrebounded Denver 51-46, scored 4 points off 6 Denver turnovers (Denver scored 16 off of 16 Sonic turnovers), were beat 22-10 on the fast break, led by 15 at one point in the game, bench outscored Denver bench 63-36 (outrebounded them 21-6)
By the way, The Earl Boykins Show in overtime was an NBA-record for points by a player in overtime (15). Again, it's embarrassing. A guy two inches shorter than me did this.
The sad thing is that before the peek, I slammed on Fortson for missing one free throw out of seven tonight. Ray Allen missed two of six, but he also missed 16 out of 22 jumpers, so...yeah, he sucked tonight. Ray tells the team that good teams win in the fourth quarter. Ray Allen didn't hit a basket in the fourth quarter tonight. His only basket in the fourth quarter and/or overtime came with under a minute left and the game out of reach.
Luke Ridnour also missed 9 of 13 shots tonight, so that wasn't good either. I know with any loss, you'd like to have that game back, but I think that's especially the case with this one.
I asked Jinkies what he thought about Marcus Camby's absolutely crazy night of 25 points and 24 rebounds. His reply: "I am not wearing anything of course. I am a cat."
I'm telling you, I don't know what I'm going to do when Jinkies runs out of unique replies. It's going to be a sad day. I might have to go to Hasselhoff, but I think he's only good for about five or six different replies.
(swap Radmanovic and Lewis in the SportsLine boxscore for the starting lineup)
(final content posted ~10:32p)
Here's what I have for tonight's game. Postgame thoughts are below the in-game stuff, and set apart by three dashes.
As we knew before the game, Nene was not going to play for the Nuggets due to his suspension. However, Rashard Lewis has suited up and Kenyon Martin is a late scratch with strep throat, and Vitaly Potapenko is out with a stomach ailment. Yikes. Rashard's re-insertion into the lineup gives the Sonics the same lineup they had from the beginning of the season until Reggie Evans had that vicious GI tract ailment.
1st qtr
10:26 Ridnour left side long jumper first Sonic basket DEN 4-2. 8:34 James offensive rebound, goes to rack and fouled, hits both DEN 6-4. 7:08 DEN 12-4, Nuggets driving the rack at will, Sonics not putting hands in the faces of open shooters. 5:22 Lewis three left side DEN 17-11. 4:55 baseline turnaround Lewis jumper DEN 17-13. 3:57 Allen feed to Radmanovic in lane for easy slam DEN 19-15. 3:20 Radmanovic unguarded three after ball movement DEN 21-18. 0:58 Radmanovic stuffs Elson.
After one quarter -- Denver 23, Seattle 22
The Sonics started out pretty cold shootingwise, and one step slow defensively. Luckily they got it back in step a bit, culminating defensively in the Radmanovic block of Francisco Elson, just seconds after the Sonics lost the ball not long after the inbound. Four Danny Fortson free throws over the last 48 seconds got the Sonics to within two at the end of the quarter.
2nd qtr
11:57 Daniels drives lane, hits high layup SEA 24-23, first Sonic lead. 11:02 Daniels on a jumper SEA 26-23. 10:27 Daniels for three off a screen, he's warming up...SEA 29-25. 9:12 Fortson gets a tipped ball off a miss, lays in SEA 33-27. 8:36 Fortson cleans up his own miss. 6:39 Vlad finishes off fast break with dunk SEA 39-29.3:07 Lewis from the right corner three SEA 46-33. 2:05 transition Ridnour lob Rashard slam SEA 48-33. 1:41 Ridnour finds Rashard AGAIN on the break for a slam SEA 50-35. 0:55.3 Radmanovic turnaround baseline jumphook SEA 52-38.
Halftime -- Seattle 52, Denver 42
Well, what a great second quarter by the Sonics. Antonio Daniels was on, the Sonics shot better, and the team cranked it up on defense, as the Nuggets were having trouble getting any easy shots. Their only true offense of the first half was Marcus Camby drilling jumpers from around the top of the key.
Half stats
team shooting 20-for-40 (50%) from the field, perfect in 8 attempts from the line, 4-for-13 from downtown (30%)
Antonio Daniels had 13 pts, Rashard Lewis 12, Vladimir Radmanovic 9 (6 reb), Danny Fortson 8. Radmanovic and Fortson both lead the team in rebounds with 6.
Lewis had some very nice moves and he's been a big factor in the offense, which is good considering his knee tendinitis. Judging by the results and how well he seems to be moving, I'm hardly able to tell he has knee tendinitis at all.
The good thing about Lewis scoring 12 and Daniels going nuts is that it makes up for Ray Allen only being 2-for-7 from the field; he only scored 4 in the first half.
3rd qtr
10:43 James runs floor and STUFFS Camby on the fast break. 8:31 Lewis three SEA 59-50. Sonics losing a few balls, missing a few baskets, Nuggets hitting layins on fast breaks, catching up. 5:50 Miller fast break layup, Nuggets have hit 7 of 9 shots. 4:51 James turnaround jumper in lane SEA 63-58. 4:22 Lewis hits cutting Radmanovic for easy layup SEA 65-58. 3:17 Ridnour nice driving layup SEA 67-60. 1:44 NUGGETS INEXPLICABLY TIE GAME 69-69.
After three quarters -- Seattle 71, Denver 69
How to sum up that third quarter? Well, the Sonics shot something like 33 or 35% in the quarter, so that's not good. Compound that with a drop in proficience on the offensive boards, and you get the Nuggets getting fast breaks every time you look at the television. Also, Ray Allen is shooting 5-for-15 from the floor tonight. Let's see if the fourth quarter really is the one that matters tonight for Ray.
4th qtr
10:55 Carmelo Anthony down after crumbling in a heap; heads to the locker room. 9:48 Boykins WIDE-OPEN THREE DEN 74-73, answered by Radmanovic three. 8:29 Radmanovic THREE after broken play with bodies down (Denver four missed shots in close) SEA 79-74. 7:47 Ridnour no-look to Fortson for layup down low, fouled, hits SEA 82-74. 5:11 Daniels misses, gone dead cold after hitting first six shots. 4:40 Allen can't hit FREE THROWS either, splits pair SEA 85-83. 4:09 RADMANOVIC THREE SEA 88-85, his fourth three-ball of the game. 3:13 Sonics over the limit. 2:21 Allen to the line, drawing contact hits two SEA 90-89, answered by Russell three. 1:50 Lewis cleans up driving Allen miss TIE 92-92. 1:23 DANIELS THREE, shaking off the cobwebs SEA 95-92. 1:08 Miller loses the ball on offense, only their second turnover of the half. 0:01.8 Camby tips in, TIES GAME at 95-95. 0:00 Allen bricks falling away out of bounds, he's 5-for-20.
After regulation -- Denver 95, Seattle 95
Man, Denver's really hanging in there. Marcus Camby looks like an absolute world-beater tonight. He's got his 3rd career game of 20 points and 20 rebounds. I'm sure this doesn't signify much good when it comes to the Sonics' interior defense, but oh well. All in all, the Sonics have allowed 27 and 26 points in the 3rd and 4th quarters in this game.
OT
THE MOTHERF*%&ING EARL BOYKINS SHOW (13 pts in the qtr). 0:58.7 Allen three his first basket of 4th/OT DEN 108-102.
Final -- Denver 116, Seattle 110 (OT)
---
I thought the damn Nuggets were the team that played last night? What the hell happened out there? No Nene, no Kenyon Martin, and Carmelo Anthony twists an ankle in the fourth quarter, but the Nuggets still pull it out.
I'm incredibly ticked off by this one.
The Sonics let this one get away. They had a decent lead in the third quarter and they failed to put the Nuggets away.
How did it happen?
Well, if Ray Allen bricked a billion shots, so that didn't help. As for how the offensive rebounding went, I'll give you a hint -- the Sonics had just one more offensive rebound than Allen had missed shots. Also, Marcus Camby had well over 20 boards, so you can guess that most of those probably were on the defensive side for him.
So what happens when you miss a bunch of shots and Marcus Camby is rebounding everything? The Nuggets go on the fast break, they turn it into a track meet for a bit, and they eventually get the lead for a bit and push it into overtime, where the Munchkin (Charles Barkley's words, not mine) carries the team on his back and gets them the win.
Embarrassing.
The sick part is, the Sonics had some good rebounding numbers, Fortson had another good night on the boards, Evans got into double digits, and Radmanovic was rebounding well too, but they just didn't get the offensive boards they needed at the right moments. I know you can't plan to completely take a team out of the fast break for a game, but it seemed for a couple minutes' span there that the Nuggets were turning every other missed Sonic shot into a track-meet fast-break layup on the other end, and that whittled the lead away very quickly.
What's really disturbing for me is that there were a few ill-timed missed free throws. What's really disturbing is the guys who missed them -- Danny Fortson and Ray Allen. If either of those guys just sinks one more free throw in the fourth quarter, well, it doesn't end up tied at the end of the fourth quarter.
Basically, Ray Allen was terrible, Antonio Daniels was torrid in the second quarter and cooled off bigtime, Rashard Lewis was solid for coming off knee tendinitis...
...but it seemed that Danny Fortson wasn't having his way down low like we're used to seeing. That goes for all of the Sonics' frontcourt, really. How else does Marcus Camby explode for a 20/20 night? I'll give credit where credit is due, but damn...
PEEK AT THE BOXSCORE
starters
Rashard Lewis 17 pts/7 reb/2 ast (7-17 FG, 3-10 3pt, no free throws), Ray Allen 17 pts/5 reb/3 ast (6-22 FG, 1-8 3pt, 4-6 free throws), Luke Ridnour 8 pts (4-13 FG, no free throws), Reggie Evans 1 pt/10 reb (21 min)
bench
Vlad Radmanovic 25 pts/9 reb (10-19 FG, 4-9 3pt), Antonio Daniels 20 pts/2 reb/5 ast (8-12 FG, 2-3 3pt), Danny Fortson 16 pts/9 reb (5-7 FG, 6-7 free throws, 26 min), Nick Collison 2 pts/1 reb (13 min)
Jerome James Watch
4 pts/4 reb/1 blk (12 min)
team
shot 41-for-93 from the field (44.1%), shot 10-for-31 from downtown (32.3%), shot 18-for-23 from the line (78.3%, Denver went 29-for-32 for 90.6%), outrebounded Denver 51-46, scored 4 points off 6 Denver turnovers (Denver scored 16 off of 16 Sonic turnovers), were beat 22-10 on the fast break, led by 15 at one point in the game, bench outscored Denver bench 63-36 (outrebounded them 21-6)
By the way, The Earl Boykins Show in overtime was an NBA-record for points by a player in overtime (15). Again, it's embarrassing. A guy two inches shorter than me did this.
The sad thing is that before the peek, I slammed on Fortson for missing one free throw out of seven tonight. Ray Allen missed two of six, but he also missed 16 out of 22 jumpers, so...yeah, he sucked tonight. Ray tells the team that good teams win in the fourth quarter. Ray Allen didn't hit a basket in the fourth quarter tonight. His only basket in the fourth quarter and/or overtime came with under a minute left and the game out of reach.
Luke Ridnour also missed 9 of 13 shots tonight, so that wasn't good either. I know with any loss, you'd like to have that game back, but I think that's especially the case with this one.
I asked Jinkies what he thought about Marcus Camby's absolutely crazy night of 25 points and 24 rebounds. His reply: "I am not wearing anything of course. I am a cat."
I'm telling you, I don't know what I'm going to do when Jinkies runs out of unique replies. It's going to be a sad day. I might have to go to Hasselhoff, but I think he's only good for about five or six different replies.
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