J.R. Smith, Ty Lawson help Denver Nuggets to 120-107 win over the Memphis Grizzlies
For the Denver Nuggets, a season filled with rumours and speculations about the fate of their star forward Carmelo Anthony, finally gave way to reality on Monday night.
Against the powerful Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday, the Nuggets played with a freedom and flair unseen in their ranks, to manage an easy 120-107 win.
The Nuggets had only nine players on the bench following a three-team trade that also involved Minnesota. However, even without the services of their veteran point guard Chauncey Billups, Shelden Williams and Renaldo Balkman, six Nuggets’ players scored
in double figures with none scoring below five points.
J.R. Smith, who started the game in the place of Anthony as a power forward, led the Nuggets’ charge with 26 points, eight rebounds, five assists and two steals. Aaron Afflalo chipped in with 21 points, Nene and Chris Anderson scored 15 points each, while
Gary Forbes finished with 10 points.
The player who made the most significant impact on the night for the Nuggets was Ty Lawson. Lawson was simply brilliant at both ends of the court. The shooting guard canned 21 points, dished out seven assists and also grabbed a match-high six steals to propel
the Bronchos to a comfortable 120-107 win.
Tony Allen, who started in place of the injured Rudy g*y as a power forward for the Grizzlies, led the scoring with 26 points. O.J. Mayo, playing only in his second game after a drug related ten-match suspension, finished with 21 points off the bench. Marc
Gasol, Zach Randolph, Mike Conley and Darrell Arthur finished with 10 apiece.
However, the Grizzlies turned over the ball 21 times and scored at only 61 percent from the charity stripe, as they couldn’t salvage their four match winning streak.
Keyon Martin started the game with a smooth layup for the Nuggets to take the lead; one they did not surrender during the entire match. The Nuggets started with an 11-6 run to take the initial advantage. They followed it with a 10-2 run midway and headed
into the second quarter leading by 32-23.
The home team continued their upbeat offensive game into the second frame. After keeping the Grizzlies at least 10 points behind during the first seven minutes of the period, they really turned on the heat in the following minutes with a 14-point unanswered
run.
Staring at a 17-point deficit coming into the second stanza, the Grizzlies scored on four of their first six possessions as they tried to rally back. The Nuggets offence was simply relentless though. They started with minor counter punches in the first three
minutes of the third quarter and then rattled the Grizzlies with a 20-8 run in the following six minutes. That gave Denver their biggest lead of the game at 89-62.
Trailing by 102-76 at the end of the third period, the Grizzlies’ offence finally found its groove with a 15-4 run. However, it was too little too late as the Nuggets breezed through to their first win in the post-Anthony era.
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