2008-09 Game 37: Denver Nuggets vs Miami Heat Game Thread

January 7, 2009
by Jeremy

The Miami Heat are in town tonight and The Nuggets will be playing their first game since Carmelo Anthony broke his hand.  Linas Kleiza will step into Melo’s starting role and I think you can count on seeing Chauncey Billups, Anthony Carter and J.R. Smith on the court down the stretch. 

The Heat bring a couple of conundrums.   One is how to stop Deyane Wade and the other is apart from Wade, who to you focus on?  They have five other players, Michael Beasley, Shawn Marion, Udonis Haslem, Mario Chalmers and Daequan Cook, all averaging between 9.8 and 13.0 points per game.  Any one of them, other than Haslem, could put up 25 points if they get hot.

I think the Nuggets will bring a great deal of energy to the game tonight because they know the task at hand will be more difficult without Carmelo.  I heard an interview with George Karl this morning talking about how they have focused on getting back to playing stout defense in practice.  We can only hope that is indeed the case. 

The Nuggets have won six straight overall against the Heat and six straight against them at home.  Lete’s hope that trend continues.  The Heat are good, but this is one of the more winnable games on the slate of the matchups we know Melo will miss.

Update:  Cook is out for tonights’ game.

Denver Nuggets Game Notes

Peninsula is Mightier 

Posted on January 7, 2009 at 5:33 pm | filed in Game Preview |

15 Responses to “2008-09 Game 37: Denver Nuggets vs Miami Heat Game Thread”

  1. Josh Hopp Says:
    January 7th, 2009 at 7:17 pm

    Lovely start and it stemmed from getting Joel Anthony in foul trouble.

    Nice that Sonny Weems was called up for emergency minutes.

    So nice to see a Nuggets game on Australian TV for once!

  2. BeefySwats Says:
    January 7th, 2009 at 7:28 pm

    Wow, great block by Kenyon on Wade.

    They really need to start covering Chalmers above the arc.

  3. Josh Hopp Says:
    January 7th, 2009 at 7:51 pm

    LK. 3-3 from deep. Nice

    Marion and Beasely hot early. Nice for Yakouba Diawara to brick wide open 3s for a different team.

  4. BeefySwats Says:
    January 7th, 2009 at 8:04 pm

    That was a GREAT offensive sequence for Denver, probably the best I’ve seen all year. Good passing, missed shot on a drive to the lane, Kleiza steal, another missed shot and an offensive rebound for Nene. Nene passes out of the post, Chauncey takes the spot up 3 off the screen, good. :)

    That was beautiful.

    Defense on Wade though, he’s starting go get hot and they need to step on Miami before the end of the half.

  5. BeefySwats Says:
    January 7th, 2009 at 8:32 pm

    Also, ps, yes I am really saying this:

    It’s time to sign Kleiza to a multiyear contract before he gets away from us forever.

  6. jakester Says:
    January 7th, 2009 at 8:45 pm

    what on earth happened to chauncey’s jump shot?

  7. Josh Hopp Says:
    January 7th, 2009 at 8:49 pm

    Classic Nuggets. World class offense spurts followed by defensive brain farts necessitating further offensive brilliance over and over.

  8. Joe Wolfpack Says:
    January 7th, 2009 at 9:01 pm

    Classic Nuggets over the past few years for sure…
    Great financial move for the team today trading Chucky for Petro. Any thoughts?

  9. Jordo5150 Says:
    January 7th, 2009 at 9:04 pm

    BeefySwats, I was coming here to say the same thing. SIGN KLEIZA.

    Did I hear right that he is statically the most productive per minute player in the league?

  10. Joe Wolfpack Says:
    January 7th, 2009 at 9:11 pm

    Does anybody else think a safe lead for the Nugs is 30+ points? And that’s only in the second half.

  11. king_couttsy Says:
    January 7th, 2009 at 9:39 pm

    Good call, Josh.

    Nice to see ESPN showing someone other than the Cavs, Spurs, Lakers or Celtics. Should get a couple more in the next couple of months too!

    Just need to get home to watch the replay tonight - looks like they’ve closed this thing out without Melo tonight. Just need to string a few more together in the next 3 weeks or so.

  12. BeefySwats Says:
    January 7th, 2009 at 9:39 pm

    Another 3 to end the game for Kmart. He’s actually turning into a decent, reliable 3 point shooter, which kinda boggles the mind.

    Great win for Denver. Detroit is going to be huge.

  13. Josh Hopp Says:
    January 7th, 2009 at 9:40 pm

    13 games aboe .500 and I’m a happy man. LK and JR were just super. We were lazy on the boards though and Nene was impotent on offense. Go the Nuggets!

  14. jakester Says:
    January 7th, 2009 at 10:20 pm

    I liked how Anderson played, but what’s Balkman gotta do to get in there? Kneecap someone?

    Proud of the team for getting it done short handed on national tv. Solid win despite some lapses on both ends

  15. Josh Hopp Says:
    January 7th, 2009 at 10:55 pm

    Damn I totally forgot about Balkman. .

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