Denver Nuggets Blog – Roundball Mining Company

Truth be told, Gallo hasn’t been very good since the new year. He’s scored only four 20-plus point games in the last month and continues to take very questionable shots. He was pretty close to awful against the Sixers. He got to the line and made a few buckets but he took about three of the worst shots any Nugget has taken over the last month. The real Gallo is nowhere to be found right now.

Faried did nothing astonishing but his commitment to defending inside the paint was impressive and also an improvement on what he normally does. He had one great chase-down block and several other block attempts that altered his opponent’s shots.

When Koufos has a bad game, nobody notices. Aside from his three blocks he didn’t play too well. He got abused in the post on more than one occasion by no-namers and seemed to be a step behind his rotations most of the night (although to be fair, so was everyone else).

I hate grading Andre Miller. I just hate it. If you were to look at his stat line alone, you’d have to wonder how he could get anything other than an A. But watch the game and you’ll wonder why I’m being so generous with a C-plus. He totally screwed the Nuggets pace this game. He didn’t even try to push the ball up the court. And on defense — I can’t even begin to tell you how awful he was. In the first five minutes there were about three plays where he willingly let his opponent slide by him without even trying to stop him. He had me laughing out loud his defense was so bad. Overall, Miller is just not a good fit for this team and the way Karl likes to play. Miller is a ball-dominant, half-court guard, who prefers to play at his own 90-year-old pace instead of pushing the pace like the rest of his teammates. Had it not been for Corey Brewer this loss would have almost been solely on Miller.

Iguodala was aggressive for about one half, then pretty much disappeared. This is a reoccurring theme with him. For playing 40 minutes he should be a little more effective than he is. Also, Holiday had his way with him on more than one occasion.

Keep in mind: This is the first game Randolph has played more than 20 minutes in a over a month. He was a bit rusty but had several key plays. His hands were active (evident by his three steals) and his defense wasn’t bad. He had a nasty crossover drive earlier in the game and ended up blocking the final shot of the game to seal the victory for the Nuggets.

If there was a way to give Brewer a better grade I would. His performance tonight was nearly ineffable. When the entire team came out flat in the first, Brewer came in to save the day. When there was no sign of defense being played anywhere on the court, Brewer stepped it up and ignited (or at least tried to ignite) the fastbreak. And in the end, when the Nuggets needed a miracle shot to win the game, he somehow drew a 3-point foul and hit ALL THREE of his free throws to win the game for the Nuggets. Brewer takes a hell of a lot of heat from Nuggets fans for being a streaky shooter but he’s been one of the most clutch players on the team all season long, especially on defense where the Nuggets patented fast-break offense gets started in the first place. Brewer was the “Anti-Miller” in this game, basically willing the Nuggets to victory off the bench. This was without question one of the top three performances from any Nugget we’ve seen this season.

JaVale was a headache most of the night. He had a few nice plays but turned the ball over four times and committed three fouls (which were pretty bad) in only 16 minutes.

Fournier needs to show us something when he gets in the game. He needs to be something other than just a body with a pulse out there. He’s talented. He’s a first-round pick. So please, Evan, show us something. Thanks.

The only thing that caught my eye was why Fournier and even Randolph got in before Hamilton. Let’s assess: If your backup small forward is out and you have another really good backup small forward, why would you pass up the opportunity to use him and instead go with a rookie shooting guard and power forward? Hamilton must have done something behind closed doors, as there’s no reasonable explanation for him to be behind both Randolph and Fournier on the depth chart. Aside from that, Karl managed to figure out a way for the Nuggets to pull this one out when they never should have. He deserves credit for that even though he once again closed out the game playing small, which I promise you, will bite him in the ass one of these days.

It seems that Gallinari has found his way back into a shooting slump at the worst possible time. Fortunately his teammates (especially Wilson Chandler) have thus far been able to pick up the slack in offensive production, but it will be extremely difficult for the Nuggets to get out of the first round if he can’t get back his mojo. On the plus side of the scale, Kevin Durant’s 34 points seemed very quiet and contained. He’s always going to get his to a certain extent, but he never really seemed a threat to take over the game, and Gallinari played an important role in that, as evidenced by the fact he was +13 despite some very poor shooting.

Faried’s rebounding was key in this win. And while he’s more well known for his offensive rebounding, it was his work on the defensive glass in the second half that really paid off bigger in this game. His energy and physicality were a spark for the Nuggets that helped them weather the Thunder’s attempts to cut back into the lead Denver had most of the game..

Koufos largely redeemed his pretty-bad first half with more focused and energized play in the second. He was struggling to finish at the rim most of the night, but he did at least find a way later in the game to be more effective in the defense and rebounding departments.

Lawson carried his team through much of this game, even if it was in a slightly understated manner. He played a measured, controlled game that seemed to create a levelheaded, no panic temperament for his team. He only had four assists, but he also had no turnovers. In a game where early on it looked like sloppy and mistaken play could cost Denver the game, Ty’s ability to limit the errors was crucial.

Iguodala has the green light to shoot 3-pointers at will, but it remains unclear why George Karl considers this a good thing (desperation go-ahead three in Chicago notwithstanding). He’s incredibly efficient at the rim and as a playmaker, so much like Andre Miller, when there’s time on the clock and he gets the ball at the arc, passing, driving and posting up should really be his only options. With that little rant out of the way, the good news tonight, as usual, was his defense. He captained an excellent team defensive effort that resulted in just 38 second half points for the Thunder, and similarly to Gallo had a high +/- (the highest, in fact) despite his poor shooting.

Brewer also got in on the poor 3-point shooting tonight, but that was offset to a point by his four steals that helped disrupt the flow of the Thunder’s offense and keep them off balance. Beyond that, however, he really had a minimal impact on either side of the floor in this game.

Like Koufos, McGee got off to a pretty bad start in this game. He did less than Kosta, however, in making up for it later in the game, as some sloppy offensive play and defensive lapses had an erasing effect on his positive contributions.

On his 37th birthday, Andre Miller decided to take control of the game in the fourth quarter, making big shot after big shot, and sealing up the win at the free throw line. In an interview after the game, Kenneth Faried described an inspirational pre-game speech that Miller gave the team, telling them they had no excuses to lose this game. He took his own message to heart at the end of the game, and although I’d prefer to see the ball in other players’ hands more often when a big game is on the line, it was nice to see Dre shine tonight as he completed his 37th revolution around the Sun.

Wilson cooled off after his huge 35-point outing in Chicago the night before. He was efficient in this game, but his production was rather limited. His defense was solid, however, and the impact he did have on the game was a net positive. Unfortunately, Chandler suffered a left shoulder separation late in the game and did not return. Hopefully his unjury will not prove to be too serious.

The Denver Nuggets beat the Oklahoma City Thunder on the second night of a back-to-back after a very exhausting overtime game in Chicago, and extended their win streak to a franchise record 13. Against odds that were dauntingly stacked against them, they got the job done. Mentally the Nuggets were in this game from buzzer to buzzer, not intimidated in any way, clearly confident they can not only hang with but beat the best of them. They were completely prepared to win this game, and they executed. This is just one of those cases where nitpicking rotations, time outs, inbound plays and the like just gets outshined by the results.In looking at the box score, it almost might be inferred that Karl’s game plan was essentially to let Durant and Westbrook get theirs but put a stranglehold on the production of the rest of the team. Only one other Thunder player — Kevin Martin with 14 points — scored in double figures. It’s almost as if Karl wanted to take away Oklahoma City’s “teamness.”

Koufos and McGee only played 16 minutes apiece, which meant we saw a whole lot of small ball in this game. And Denver allowed 50 points in the paint. But they scored 72 of their own, and Miller’s play in the fourth makes Karl look smart no matter where you come down on the tactical question of how much small ball is too much.

The only additional comment about Karl I’d like to make is that he took a technical foul to defend his players in the second quarter, after Westbrook had been politicking the zebras the entire game. It was good for George to show he had his guys’ backs, and surprisingly, the officiating down the stretch was not nearly as superstar-favored as one might expect.

Gallo was on the court for almost 40 minutes but for most of them you would never know. 7 field goals attempted is way to low when the rest of the starting lineup struggled, especially when Gallo was being defended by Carlos Boozer or Joakim Noah for stretches in the fourth quarter and overtime. The rebounds were nice and the defense was ok but Gallo has to be more aggressive in a game like that.

Faried was out of the game early and when he returned he didn’t do much to earn himself more time. Two rebounds in 15 minutes is way to low, especially for someone who’s biggest strength is rebounding and energy. Not a good night for Faried.

For as well as Koufos had been playing lately tonight was a clear step back. He struggled to finish inside and didn’t have a defensive rebound in the first half. Like most Nuggets starters he just didn’t play well tonight.

Lawson was one of the players torched for 34 points by Nate Robinson, unable to get a good shot at the end of regulation and really just below average most of the night. He should have taken advantage of Nate Robinson and dominated on both ends of the floor, instead like the rest of the Nuggets starters he came out very flat.

Let’s not let the big 3 get in the way of the overall picture. Iguodala was again abysmal shooting the ball and unlike most nights he didn’t assist a big number of scores either. And unlike most nights Iguodala wasn’t matched up with a great scorer tonight as he spent most of the night on Marco Belinelli. The rebounding, late three and deflections in overtimes helped the Nuggets get the win but if he played any better in regulation the game doesn’t get to that point.

The offense was good but some of his decision making left things to be desired. Brewer gambled late on some plays he shouldn’t have in the middle of the Bulls run to get back into the game. He also had a late turnover in the same run. It was typical Brewer, but those typical plays that are ok early in the game against opposing team’s bench aren’t as ok late in close games.

The rebounding could have been better but overall JaVale was pretty darn good tonight. He finished in the paint and changed some shots for the Bulls with proper rotations. I thought he should have closed the game but George Karl thought otherwise. Clearly he was the best of the Faried/Koufos/McGee true big trio tonight.

For most of the game Miller was great, the second best Nugget great in fact. He was posting up and making the right passes, or attacking when no help came and even rebounding a bit. In fact I advocated for him to close the game. Then the late game came and everything fell apart. He went under on the screens that allowed Nate Robinson to get off the game tying three in regulation then had some out of control drives late in overtime, including the drunk drive that somehow led to Iguodala’s game winning three. It was a great example of the two sides of Andre.

Chandler was the best player on the floor for the Nuggets tonight and it wasn’t even that close. The most encouraging part about it was the way he scored. Almost everything was at the rim, where Chandler got any time he wanted. The easiest way to describe his play tonight compared to his teammates is this: at halftime Chandler was outscoring all of the starters combined 20 to 16 and he also added 5 rebounds and 2 assists to those 20 points. A terrific night from Ill Will.

I was fully ready to give Karl a good grade as the Nuggets entered the 4th quarter with a comfortable lead despite getting nothing from their starters. Then things completely fell apart. Karl went to bizarre lineups such as one with Gallo at center, refused to play any center despite JaVale having a great game, left Miller in for a key defensive possession after a timeout then put him on the player the ball was clearly going too, and not getting Wilson Chandler touches late in the game. It was just about everything Karl could have done to let the Bulls get back in the game and that was exactly what happened. Also why did Karl choose to make his team go the length of the court to end regulation? Let them have more time in the half court and run some type of set to get a look for Lawson or Chandler. Just a bizarre way for Karl to finish a game he seemed to have complete control over through three quarters.

Gallo got off to a pretty good start, but pretty much disappeard through the second and third quarters. But he came up big in the fourth on a critical possession, when he knocked down a huge 20-foot jumper which began a great close out that put the game out of reach. The stat line may not impress, but the win has his fingerprints all over it.

Faried had a pretty terrible first half. He was a non-presence for the most part. Marc Gasol had his way with him, partly because he could shoot right over him, but also because Kenneth repeatedly failed to close out on his mid-range shots. He got into early foul trouble, and his energy just wasn’t up to his usual par. But after Karl sat him through the third, he came out with ferocity in the fourth quarter and almost single handedly tilted the dynamics of the game to the Nuggets’ favor. In a game that demanded physicality, he stepped up to the challenge and then some.

Koufos recently scored his career high in points, but tonight may have been the best game of his career as he grabbed a career high 16 rebounds and shouldered a large share of Denver’s paint points. I can’t in good faith give him an A+ simply due to giving up far too many offensive rebounds, but he still deserves high marks for hanging tough down low with one of the league’s best front courts.

We saw some shades of early season Lawson tonight. He lacked confidence, was very hesitant in his decision making, and Memphis’ physical style of play really seemed to knock him off his game. But he did seem to recognize that he would need to be effective in other ways to close out the game, and he did an admirable job of defending Mike Conley, who was held to just 4-13 shooting.

Games like this foreshadow just how valuable Iguodala might be in the postseason. As Scott Hastings said, Memphis is an Eastern Conference team playing in the West, and Andre is right in his comfort zone in these grinding battles. He was effective on both ends with a great balance of defense and playmaking, he was second after Koufos in defensive rebounding, and in a faster paced game he would have bagged a triple double.

Like Faried, Brewer just did not seem to be his usual energetic self tonight. In the final sum, his gambling on defense did not pay off against a smart, sound Grizzlies team that knows how to take care of the ball and capitalize on defensive errors. My gut wants to give him a C, but like Gallo, he saved a key possession by hitting a big shot in clutch time that extended the Nuggets lead, and that outshiines the rest of his game.

JaVale only played 12 minutes in this game, and they were actually pretty good minutes for the most part. Karl probably pulled him for failing to keep the Grizzlies off the offensive glass (not that they weren’t abusing every Nuggets player in that regard). But for whatever reason, he played so little that there’s not too much to conclude about his performance.

Andre Miller had an outstanding first half on the offensive end, including one downright spectacular drive in which he took it straight at Tony Allen like a whirling Dervish. His stamp on the second half was less pronounced, but he played well throughout. I don’t put too much stock in single game +/-, but the second highest Nugget in that category was Koufos at +9. Dre was +20.

Chandler’s offensive game was off in a pretty big way tonight. It wasn’t just that his shot wasn’t falling. He seemed to be completely out of the offensive flow, ad when he got the ball, good things were not usually happening. What saves him from getting a D — and saves the entire team from being knocked down a peg for that horrendous third quarter — is defensive effort. That’s what kept the Nuggets in the game when their offense derailed, and he was solid on that end of the court.

There are times, when grading George Karl, that I feel ambivalent, that I see many more cons than pros throughout the course of the game — but then the Nuggets win and it’s hard to argue against results.But tonight was not one of those times. This is one game where I wholeheeartedly, unequivocally endorse the A+ for Karl. (For those who accuse me of being a hater, please bookmark this page for easy future reference). Simply put, George coached this hell out of this game.

Firstly, the Nuggets came out solid in the first quarter. They were prepared, they had a plan, and within the constraints put on them by the Grizzlies’ defense, they executed it. Memphis did dictate the pace, but the Nuggets were ready to work within those parameters.

It’s always hard to know how much of what a team does can be chalked up to game plan versus just what the players do spontaneously on the court. But in this one they did seem to have a clear defensive game plan, and they executed it well. They got killed on the offensive boards, but don’t lose sight of the fact that Memphis shot only 35.3% from the field. Before this game, the Nuggets lost their first three games of the season in which they scored under 90 points. They won tonight largely because their defense held the Briz to 80.

Karl also gets kudos for minutes management in this one. It was a huge gamble to bench Faried in the third quarter due to foul trouble, but it paid off dividends bigtime when the Manimal came roaring back in the fourth. And his micromanagement of rotations at the end of the game might be the best coaching we’ve seen from Karl all season, or in years. Taking out both point guards to go with big, lengthy defensive lineups, followed by speedy playmaking lineups on the other end. George usually has his routine and he sticks with it. Tonight, he was responsive to the dynamics of the game, and perfectly so.

But my favorite thing of all was what Altitude reported from the huddle before the fourth quarter. They said Karl had told his guys that this was a great chance, a great experiencee, a great opportunity to prepare for the playoffs and to learn how to win these tough, gritty, frustrating games they’ll inevitably experience more of in the postseason. It was a great message to send, and the players obviously responded to it with the renewed energy and confidence they needed to win the game.

Gallinari looked really good when he went to the rim or got to the line, and really awful shooting jumpers. He played great defense on Carmelo Anthony for part of the first quarter, and later forced two turnovers by drawing offensive fouls away from the ball.

Faried started out the game taking several jump shots. He eventually settled down and started taking shots closer to the rim, but missed several tip tries. He outhustled the Knicks for several offensive rebounds, particularly after Tyson Chandler left the game.

It seems like every game I grade, I end up writing something like “Koufos was quietly effective”. He continues to play fundamental basketball with good positioning, and make the most of his opportunities.

Ty was aggressive getting into the paint all night, but had a bit of trouble finishing over Tyson Chandler. His shot was falling from the outside and his passing was crisp. He would likely have finished with a double double if Gallinari’s shot had been falling.

Igoudala has emerged as a solid secondary playmaker for the Nuggets, setting up a ton of easy scores. Tonight he tried to do a little too much and forced several passes into traffic. He was hitting his own shots from everywhere except the free throw line. He had a few spectacular defensive sequences in the second half.

Inconclusive.

On one late sequence, Hamilton missed a jumper that led to a Knicks fast break off the long rebound, and then got downcourt in time to swat James White’s layup attempt into the stands. His shot wasn’t falling, but he was making good contributions in other parts of the game.

Brewer usually provides the Nuggets with great energy, but tonight the starters had all the energy they needed, and he seemed a step slow by comparison. He did a little bit of everything, but nothing particularly well.

Mozgov was involved in two highlights tonight: a nice two handed dunk, and a Prigioni pass between his legs that led to a Knicks layup.

In a game where the Nuggets were completely dominant in the paint, and the Knicks’ only center left with an injury, the athletic seven footer decided to take a 16 foot jumper that missed everything. He also had one nice block and a layup from freakishly far away from the basket. It was a very inconsistent game overall.

Andre Miller surprised me by playing fantastic defense for most of his first half minutes. He was also on target with his passing.

Fournier looks completely lost on the defensive end of the court, and too often gets caught needing to foul. He stepped up offensively when tacos seemed to be in doubt, setting up Chandler for a three point play and scoring five of his own to push the Nuggets over the 110 point mark.

Wilson Chandler spent most of the night taking advantage of the Knicks’ lack of shot blocking. On two occasions he grabbed a rebound, dribbled fullcourt, and got a lightly contested layup.

The Nuggets came out ready to play, and they didn’t let up until the game was out of reach. His small lineups worked well against the Knicks’ small lineups.

As Joel tweeted during the game, Gallo’s scoring average has decreased from 19 points per game in January, to 16 in February and now 13.6 in March. He’s been injured, but you have to wonder just how much that is affecting his play. If he’s in more pain than he’s leading us to believe, it’s probably best he sits a few more games so that he’s ready to play when the playoffs arrive.

Faried was frenetic in every sense of the word. He had a nice, solid game but was almost too wild for his own good at times, letting routine rebounds slip through his hands more than once. Nevertheless, he made up for it with his hustle which is always admirable.

Koufos’ best game as a Nugget? You tell me. I’ve said forever that as long as he puts himself in the proper position on the floor to make a play, things will fall into place. That’s exactly what he did tonight. He was constantly moving into open space and cutting towards the basket at the right time for a tip-back or alley-oop. He also did a great job on the boards and made excellent, calculated decisions all night. This was a new career high in points scored for Koufos, beating his old career high by one.

This is how far Lawson has come: He didn’t score a point in the first half yet finished one shy of 20 on the night. He’s getting to the point where he knows when and where to really turn it on — and for his competition, that’s a scary thing. It’s worth noting that his last three points came from a desperation heave just inside half court as time was expiring in the waning seconds of the game.

Nights like these tend to subdue Iguodala’s main strengths. He didn’t have a premier counterpart to try and shut down and wasn’t hitting his shots, therefore he tended to blend in. Still, he finished with a respectable stat line considering just how easy the Nuggets coasted to the win in the second half.

Twenty points in 26 minutes from a bench player is nothing to scoff at. Brewer can be wildly inconsistent but continues to score well into double digits on a regular basis. Against the Suns he spent most of his time out on the break and cutting to the basket, which are by far his biggest strengths, offensively speaking.

His stats do not tell the story; not in any way. McGee was unbelievably bad tonight. For those who claim I’m a McGee hater, please, spare me. I love this kid. Just like J.R. Smith, I think it’s ridiculous Karl plays games with his head. You should either have faith in a guy and let him do his thing or not play him at all if he’s really that bad. McGee deserves more minutes and freedom but on nights like these I can at least understand where Karl is coming from. McGee was doing almost nothing to help his team. He was constantly out of position, late on his rotations (sometimes not even rotating at all), falling for every pump fake that came his way and even fouling away from the ball on multiple occasions. He had a monster dunk — WHEN DOES HE NOT?!? The fact is: McGee needs to take his destiny into his own hands and start playing smarter, more fundamental basketball. Karl deserves blame for not helping him with this, but McGee is still a grown ass man. It’s time to put Shaqtin’ a Fool in his rear view mirror.

Miller was pretty inconsistent. He had a few nice dimes and drives to the rack but also had a couple of boneheaded turnovers. He also played spotty defense for most of the night. On one possession he didn’t even try to close out. He just stood there. Staring at his man. With his hands by his side.

Chandler didn’t have a potent night offensively but was still efficient, which is what matters most. The best part of his performance was that instead of hoisting up bad shots he made himself useful by hitting the glass and playing solid defense. That’s really all you can ask from anybody who’s not feeling it on a given night in the NBA.

The Nuggets played sloppy, unorganized, unprepared basketball in the first half but clearly refocused at halftime and came out with a vengeance. Karl deserves credit for this. In the end, his team won by 15 on the road against a team who’s had some quality wins as of late. That’s about as good as it gets.

Gallo didn’t get a lot of touches tonight, but he did something positive almost every time he touched the ball. He was solid on defense and especially on the defensive glass. After one particularly strong rebound he threw a great full-court pass to a leaking Brewer that started the 16-2 run to put the game away. He found several other teammates in easy position to score, as evidenced by his team high six assists. The only negative was his inability to finish in the paint.

Faried’s rebounding was great most of this game, but two runouts from near the free throw line allowed the Wolves to pick up long offensive rebounds in that area. His lone assist came on another great full-court pass to a leaking Brewer. His defense contributed both to Derrick Williams’ bad shooting night and Mickael Geleable’s good shooting night.

Yet another solid but unspectacular night for the Nuggets’ starting center. He made a couple of small mistakes like failing to adequately contest one Rubio layup and committing offensive basket interference. He also made a number of good under-the-radar plays, like setting a great screen to give Ty Lawson a wide open look at a three pointer.

Ty’s jumper was on the money tonight. He was also able to get by defenders and into the paint pretty regularly. When he looked to score, he was nearly unstoppable, dropping in twelve points in a four and a half minute stretch of the fourth quarter. The only reason he doesn’t score an A+ for tonight’s game is his four turnovers, including an offensive foul for a kickout (on a three pointer he made).

Iguodala’s strength is his ability to keep the other team off the scoreboard, and he did so in a variety of ways tonight. He had one spectacular JaVale-type block and stripped a Wolves player after an offensive rebound as two of his combined seven blocks plus steals. He also had a highlight-reel dunk and took a lot of contact (with no call) on what should have been another.

With his only offensive opportunity, Randolph chose to look for his own shot, and missed. He balanced it out by making a good defensive effort and coming up with a blocked shot.

Hamilton had a clean look from three that he buried, and hit another long jumper. He tried to force the action a bit when he went to the rim against multiple defenders.

I cringed when Andre attempted his only three pointer of the night. But I cheered three times as much when he was finding JaVale McGee above the rim, or throwing a great long-distance pass to a leaking Corey Brewer for an easy dunk. His “wily old man” game was on full display twice late in the game, when he got multiple defenders turned around with crossover moves on successive plays.

There was a little bit of bad Corey Brewer tonight: a pair of long, contested two shots with plenty of time on the clock, missed threes, a missed free throw, a bad bailout foul, and a defensive possession where he simply stepped aside and let his man drive unimpeded to the rim. But there was much more good Corey Brewer: energetic, chaos-bringing, beating the defense upcourt and catching all those long passes mentioned elsewhere in these grades.

Coming in early to replace an ineffective JaVale McGee, Mozgov put on an equally terrible performance. He made one positive play, blocking a shot by Gelebale, and then committed a lazy foul and fumbled the ball into Barea’s hands. He did nothing else of note when he returned late in the game.

In the first half, JaVale earned a D- with play so bad that Timofey Mozgov got some early playing time. In the second half, he earned a B+ for a much better, but still uneven, performance. His steal on Rubio that he took the other way for a dunk was incredible, but his attempted behind the back pass into three defenders was the other kind of incredible.

In his few minutes on the court, Fourner twice got the best of J.J. Barea, forcing a missed layup and drawing a foul.

This was a frustrating outing for Wilson Chandler. He got whistled for seemingly every kind of foul possible, often within seconds of checking into the game. He played tentatively on defense and never seemed to find a rhythm on offense.

I was really pleased with Karl’s quick benching of McGee, and then Mozgov, after both came out looking awful in the first quarter. He also seemed to make the right adjustments coming out of halftime. His well-earned technical foul late in the third quarter seemed to bring the team to life, and they closed the door on the Wolves’ mini-rally shortly thereafter.

More important than the numbers was the fact Gallo looked completely rehabilitated from his nagging injuries. Six assists is a good sign Gallo is figuring out how to make the most of his dynamic perimeter game. He scored from all over and once again looked spry doing it, busting out some of his most athletic plays of the season.

The story hasn’t changed with Faried. He can get better defensively but it doesn’t really matter when he pumps out a nonchalant double-double with four blocks to boot. The Clippers were physical with Kenneth and it didn’t faze him. Faried’s energy was on another level and he looked like he could have kept going all night.

Not a great game out of Koufos. His first-half defense left a lot to be desired but he managed to finish strong with a great second half. Koufos continues to be a dependable guy but his production was lacking relative to his minutes.

What else is there to say? That was a masterful performance and a prime example of what makes Lawson’s signature game so good. Ty showed he can be an efficient distributor and manage his scoring with the flow of the game. He’s been a lot better at recognizing when he needs to stretch his game out and hit a tough shot. He directed with Chris Paul-like precision and it’s safe to say outplayed his All-Star counterpart.

He did a great job moving the ball and not forcing shots. Iguodala is guaranteed to provide outstanding defense and playmaking every minute he’s on the floor, but his scoring has probably been the most inconsistent it’s ever been. His flaws as a scorer are evident as his natural tendency is to shoot too many jumpers, but he’s managed it so well in Denver and focused on playmaking instead. It’s just one example of the way he consistently leads the Nuggets on both ends of the floor.

A pretty standard Brewer game with a lot of leakouts, gambling for steals and an airball or two thrown in for good measure. Brew scored and ran hard off the bench as usual but he didn’t have a particularly good night.

There were the highlight blocks and then there were the four fouls and alarming number of missed block-outs for a 14 minute performance. I love Pierre but he got pretty well owned on the boards and two rebounds is just hard to comprehend.

He had his shot going early but really couldn’t get a hold of the pace all night. Miller scored and did what he could off the bench but I have to wonder how much of a role he might have in a playoff matchup against the Clippers, who will use a zone and and challenge Denver to put size and shooting on the floor. Miller was solid but didn’t have much of a role in this one.

He started rough and played some really poor interior defense throughout the first half. As the game wore on the physical play seem to fire up Wil and he exploded with one of his better all-around games of the season. He was key in helping the Nuggets close the first half strong when the game was still well within reach for the Clippers.

The Nuggets didn’t seem to have the best energy tonight and credit Karl for motivating them to turn it up in the second half. This was not one of the Nuggets’ finer performances but a solid, efficient game and a business-like win they needed to have. Lawson shined directing the flow on his own so you also have to credit Karl for recognizing it and pulling back on using the Lawson-Miller tandem in the second half.

It appeared Gallo returned to his normal mode of production prior to be sidelined with an injury. He did most of his damage behind the arc with a sprinkling of mid-range, pull-up jumpers mixed in as well. Aside from scoring Gallo also had some really nice assists.

This was one of my favorite games from Faried all year. His energy was great, as were his numbers, but I loved the way he did other things, like dribble the floor and attempt shots that were outside of his comfort zone. He pulled up for several jumpers, even one that was a turn-around, and seemed to be shooting them with confidence. He also dribbled the fastbreak with a tight handle and executed the pick-and-roll perhaps better than I’ve ever seen. Faried’s energy can only get him so far so it’s very pleasing to see him tackle other aspects of his game in an attempt to grow as an all-around ball player.

Koufos can do so much by just being in the right position. I felt he was exposed on a few pick-and-rolls and failed to defend the Sacramento bigs as well as he could have, but he made up for it by getting a multitude of easy put backs and rebounds. Bottom line: He was extremely productive in the time given.

I haven’t been this thrilled to watch a certain Nuggets player since Chauncey Billups and Carmelo Anthony were on the team. Lawson is not just playing basketball at this point; he’s growing as a person. His confidence is through the roof. He’s maturing. He’s understanding the nuances of the game and it’s all paying off in the form of some incredible basketball. He started the game off somewhat slow but overcame his struggles to lead the Nuggets in scoring, yet again. I can’t wait to see what he has in store for the rest of the season.

Iguodala is just not a scorer. Although he will occasionally put up points, who doesn’t in the NBA? It’s his understanding of the game and commitment to defense that make him such a vital part of this team. Against the Kings his hands were everywhere, evident by his five steals. He also moved to open spaces with the ball, drew in defenders, then found an open man on more than one occasion. His eclecticism is what was on display tonight.

It wasn’t like Brewer wasn’t there. He made a few nice plays on defense and was pretty active on that end of the floor all night. But he did blend in when the Nuggets went sloppy and never really recovered.

McGee continues to oscillate wildly (two points to whoever gets that musical reference) and this game was by no means a departure from that standard. He had four high-flying blocks and a few monster jams, but he also failed to rebound the ball in any way and made a number of unnecessary mistakes. I’ll always side with his talent over Karl’s double-standard grudge he seemingly holds against him, but on nights like this I can at least understand where Karl is coming from… kind of.

Why can’t Miller be like this all the time? Just shut up and play. Don’t talk to the media about how you’re on the brink of achieving some monumental status in your career and how you don’t plan on taking a back seat to anybody. You have nothing to worry about, man. George Karl is OBSESSED with you! Against the Kings, Miller went about his business quietly and effectively. He wasn’t playing hero ball, he was playing smart, calculated basketball and yet he still finished with a great stat line. This was exactly how he was playing prior to his statements in the paper and it’s exactly what the Nuggets need from him. Andre Miller is most effective when he’s trying to do the least amount of things on the court, plain and simple.

I couldn’t place Chandler all night. You want to talk about inconsistency? There is no player on the roster more inconsistent than Chandler. He was clearly dedicated to playing defense, which you have to admire, but 1-7 from the field won’t cut it. I really can’t put my finger on what it is that makes Chandler’s production fluctuate so much but I’m not sure playing him at power forward helps.

Karls’ rotations were somewhat wacky — as usual. He went with small ball way too long when it was clearly not working and should have played Faried way more considering how hot he was. Also, the Kings made a conscious effort to clog the paint, therefore making this an excellent opportunity to get Jordan Hamilton some run and space the floor. But… Karl stuck with his normal rotation and decided to grind it out, which the Nuggets eventually did. Aside from that, I felt he did a good job of corralling his guys at halftime when things were clearly out of control and getting them through this game handily at the end. It wasn’t always pretty, but a road win at this time of year, with this team, is hardly something you can complain about.

Faried had a great energy throughout the game but couldn’t really concentrate it properly. He was a bit wild and inconsistent and had trouble defending Aldridge. He did have a few nice assists, which is something you love to see from him (and would like to see more often).

Koufos could have been better. He was solid, but there were many where he missed easy putbacks and other opportunities that would have helped his team out in the long run.

Lawson will finish out the month of February averaging 23 points and nine assists per game. It has been the best month of his career thus far. It’s also fitting he finishes February in this fashion — essentially leading the Nuggets to a road victory in one of the toughest arenas in the NBA. His confidence right now is through the roof. He was even talking trash to Wesley Mathews at the end of the game, which is something you rarely see from him.

Not sure I understand Chandler at this point, or any point throughout his tenure with the Nuggets. He’s right up there with Corey Brewer in terms of inconsistency. One night he pours in 23 against the Lakers, the next he manages only seven. His offense can be difficult to grasp as a fan. He has only a select few moves he utilizes and they often come at arbitrary points throughout the game. It would be nice to see him move better without the ball too.

Yep, this was Iguodala’s best game as a Nugget — hands down. His stats were insane. Like Lawson, he was playing with a supreme level of confidence this game. He was just on a totally different level. All that said, his free throw shooting is something else. He was bricking them harder than Dwight Howard. Not sure what’s going on there but it’s kinda ridiculous, to be honest.

I can’t knock Randolph too hard. The guy was really trying out there. You can tell, he’s super talented. He had several shots than I don’t think any Nugget forward could make other than him. But he also thought he was Magic Johnson kickstarting the fastbreak offense more than once, which he should never do… ever. Overall, he was a little out of control but nothing too bad. A solid outing for a guy who’s been riding pine most of the year.

Brewer started off the game with a bang, then disappeared almost entirely. I don’t even remember him in the second half, yet he finished with 28 minutes. That’s never a good sign. He didn’t do anything wrong, but he also didn’t do too much right.

McGee was pretty impressive in the first half… then he got in foul trouble. He didn’t see any time in the fourth, which was a bit suspect. Had he kept playing, he might very well have ended up with five-plus blocks… and five-plus fouls.

As always, it’s tough to hand out a grade here. Miller had 10 assists in only 22 minutes, but he also turned the ball over four times and played half-assed defense most of the night. At one point Damian Lillard pretty much just waltzed from the top of the arc all the way to the rim, with Miller doing absolutely nothing to try and stop him. Don’t get me wrong, he had some incredible alley oops and a clutch late-game basket, but he also spent a lot of his time turning the ball over and choosing to play only when he decided he wanted to.

I liked what I saw out of Karl. He was yelling. That’s good. He needs to yell more. He’s too passive most of the time. I think I even saw a few curse words murmured as the camera zoomed in on his face. That passion rubbed off on his team. It was clear. This was a totally different Nuggets team on the road. They were playing like they do at home. Yes, they could have easily lost… but they didn’t. That’s all that matters. He did play too much small ball, overused Chandler at the power forward position and let Miller play defense on the last possession of the game which is insulting to nearly all living things. Other than that, the Nuggets were ready to play and got a much-needed road win. That’s all that matters.

Gallo saw limited action tonight between foul trouble early in the game and a reaggravated injury early in the second half. When he was on the court he was fairly effective both offensively and defensively. Overall grade incomplete.

Faried got off to a slow start tonight and wasn’t ever able to take control of the glass. He also got lost a couple of times defensively. On the plus side, he got to the rim several times and showed a nice touch on a couple of makes from the right block. His energy level increased as the game went on, and two nice defensive plays late in the third helped keep the Nuggets firmly in the lead.

Kosta was quietly effective tonight. He was active on putback attempts, though they mostly weren’t falling. His defense started out shaky but improved as the game went on.

Like most of the other Nuggets starters, Ty was unspectacular early this game. He opened with two turnovers and some lazy defense, and deferred far too much on offense. When Gallinari left the game and Iguodala sat with foul trouble, the light seemed to go on and Ty became a whole different player, getting to the rim and to the line. Even though he got his shot blocked several times, he stayed aggressive and kept the pressure on the defense.

Iggy was on his way to a great game when he was derailed by foul trouble in the third quarter. He was passing the ball as well as I’ve seen from any Nugget this year, setting up several McGee dunks and a Lawson triple. His defensive activity led to several easy buckets, including his own breakaway dunk off of a steal. Were it not for a dumb fourth foul, he would have shared the highest grade of the game.

Of the players who came in at the end of the game, Randolph had by far the most opportunity, but made very little of it, turning the ball over on a silly foul and missing one of his two free throws.

Incomplete.

Brewer is often the hardest player to grade, because he does so many good things and so many bad things over the course of a game. Tonight, the bad came out a little ahead. He created two Nuggets layups with his defense, but I counted seven major defensive blunders as well. He twice pulled down tough rebounds in traffic, but also blew a layup and messed up a 2 on 1 fast break. He started off making his three pointers, but then took a couple of heat check type shots with defenders in his face.

JaVale held his own personal dunk contest tonight, using the Bobcats front line as props. On one occasion when he didn’t have a dunk available, he made a nice pass to set up a Brewer layup. He also blocked or altered several Bobcats shots (and goaltended one.) He seemed to singlehandedly deflate the Bobcats crowd on more than one occasion.

Andre made a couple of very nice passes, and a handful of ill-advised passes, such as trying to find Kosta Koufos in the middle of four defenders. His defensive effort was considerably better tonight than in some recent games. I was pleased by his efforts to get to the rim, though he wasn’t always able to finish.

Incomplete.

I continue to be impressed by Wilson Chandler’s defensive versatility. One play he’ll be fighting a big in the post, the next he’ll cause a turnover on the perimeter, and the next he’ll pull down a tough rebound in traffic. His impact on that end of the floor was good this game. His offense was also solid, aside from one terrible shot from the baseline. He gets a downgrade for being a little foul-happy (though one was a good foul in an end of quarter, foul to give situation.)

There was a stretch early in the third quarter, after Gallinari got hurt and Iguodala picked up his fourth foul, that the Nuggets offense stagnated with poor spacing. This was the only part of the game where I thought Karl needed to make a substitution that he didn’t. For most of the game, he played the players who were being effective. He even stood up for his players, yelling at the officials quite a bit after a series of questionable calls in the second period and taking a tech late in the fourth after another bad series.

Due to the fact that he was struggling with an injury through most of this game, it wouldn’t be too fair to be overly critical of Gallo’s performance. If anything, he deserves props for nobly trying to help his team by playing through the pain. All of that said, he really wasn’t able to do a whole lot on either end of the court, though it’s probably more on Karl for sending him out when it may have been better not to.

The entire Nuggets frontcourt was a disappointment tonight, and unfortunately Faried was a big part of the reason for that. He’s usually one of the guys who jump starts his team with infectious energy, but in this game he was more like the invisible man. And nowhere was that more apparent than on defense, where is rebounding was frankly inept (only four for the game), and more often than not he was either slow or confused when rotating after switches. It’s easy to love the Manimal, but perhaps a little too easy, and whether he can find a way to improve defensively will be a huge factor in whether he can get his game to the next level going forward.

Koufos was only slighly less disappointing than Faried. He got off to a shaky start, leading Karl to put in McGee earlier than he usually would. But seemingly frustrated with his own play, he found his spark plug in the second quarter and started playing with more energy and fight. He wasn’t able to sustain that through the second half, however, and Emeka Okafor pretty much abused Kosta and Kenneth all night long.

As he often has been in recent losses, Lawson was one of the brighter silver linings in this game. He tends to start games off slow and find his groove as the game progresses, but that was not the case tonight. He was determined to make plays from the get go, scoring with a combination of drives and mid-range jumpers, and doing a great job of finding his teammates. While Ty can’t completely be exempted from Denver’s bad defensive outing, he did a respectable job of containing John Wall. In the good news/bad news department, he hit 11 of his 12 free throws, but missed all six of his 3-point attempts.

This is a hard game to judge Iguodala on. I actually prefer when he stays with a more restrained offensive role as he did tonight. His eight points were modest but, for him, relatively efficient. And there were times in the game where he was making some good individual defensive plays, on Beal and Wall in particular. But like Lawson, he can’t be excused for his part of the Nuggets terrible perimeter defense. And his propensity for dribbling the ball into the teeth of the defense and turning it over ihas really become frustrating to watch.

Brewer quietly had a pretty good game. After the Nuggets flatlined coming out of halftime, going scoreless for over five minutes and allowing the Wizards to go on a 13-0 run, Brewer helped to put the brakes on defensively and get Denver back in the game. Like Lawson, he missed all of the 3-pointers, but he did infuse a sluggish team with energy, and while he didn’t do anything spectacular, he played the role he’s supposed to.

JaVale was the least disappointing of his frontcourt peers, but that’s still not saying too much. His defensive effort and impact was there, and Karl should have played him more, especially considering that not only was he playing better than Faried or Koufos, he was also playing on the home court of his former team. Where he really got outplayed was on the glass. It’s great that he worked with Hakeem on his post moves last summer, but it would be even better this summeer if he could work on boxing out.

If this game had ended at halftime, I may have given Miller an A+. He has taken a lot of heat lately at RMC — most of it well placed, in my opinion — but he sure came out blasting in the second quarter. He shot a perfect 5 of 5 in the first half, including a long 3-pointer, and pretty much single handedly got the Nuggets back into the game when they were slipping. Unfortunately, he also pretty much single handedly took the Nuggets out of the game, too, with yet another late game pretty-selfish-and-not-so-smart-for-a-wily-veteran play when he ran the full court solo on a fast break at attempted to score by running straight into two defenders, resulting in a block, turnover, and three points on the other end to put Denver down six with under two minutes remaining, when they could have been down just one or tied. How many times must this happen for George Karl to learn? Doesn’t matter: Karl doesn’t learn. Downgraded for that one play, and for his part in the porous defense.

Chandler was the Nuggets’ best player tonight. He was the only player who was truly effective on both offense and defense, and he really found a way to step up on a night when Gallo was struggling. 28 minutes is well above his average, but he should have gotten even more, with Danilo sitting the game out with his injury. If he can start to play at this level more consistently, it should give the Nuggets a real boost down the final stretch of the season.

Instead of writing a new paragraph in this space every time, perhaps a “George Karl checklist” would simplify our task, as we so often encounter the same phenomena:
-Going into the first game of a road trip completely unprepared?
–Check
–Allowing the opponent to go on huge runs without calling a timeout to stop the bleeding?
–Check.
-Overplaying favorites and underplaying better in-game performers, especially in crucial moments of the game?
–Check.
-Closing out the game with small ball even when they’re getting badly outrebounded?
–Check.