J.R. Smith sizzles down the stretch as the Denver Nuggets gun down the Atlanta Hawks 100-90
J.R. Smith subjugated off the bench with his 11 points in the final quarter as the Denver Nuggets overpowered the Atlanta Hawks with a 100-90 win, their third in a four match road trip since Carmelo Anthony was sent to New York
Knicks in a trade deal.
Denver coach George Karl ensured that all of his line-up gets a hang of the game. He used many combinations to haunt the Hawks throughout the game. The introduction of Smith in the fourth quarter though proved to be by far the
savviest substitution. With the game hanging in balance, the reserve forward exploded with a ripping triple pointer with 7:50 to go and the Bronchos never looked after that. Smith finished with a team-high 19 points and seven rebounds.
"When I feel I have a team that can win the game, they're probably going to stay on the court. As the game goes down to the end, there's a lot of guys I can finish with. They're going to have to live with my decision. Hopefully,
be enthusiastic about it." Coach Karl said after the game.
Kenyon Martin had a double-double and Wilson Chandler delivered another sturdy offensive game with 15 points. For the Hawks, Joe Johnson finished with a game-high 22 points while Al Horford chipped in with 21 points and 16 rebounds.
Their efforts however proved to be insufficient for Atlanta Hawks, who lost pace down the stretch.
The game depicted wavering moments for both teams. However, the home team took the game away from Atlanta in the defining moments of the play.
Atlanta Hawks managed to gain advantage in the start which enabled them to end the first quarter with 25-21 lead capped by a Jamal Crawford’s buzzer beating trey. Josh smith scored 8 points in the first period to put Hawks in the
frontline.
The Hawks continued to build on their first quarter momentum and amplified their lead 41-32 with 5:35 left in the halftime. However, Chandler and Lawson lifted the momentum for Denver and scored back to back points to cut down
the deficit 47-46 as the game progressed into the first half.
The third quarter depicted some great resistance from both the teams and the Hawks managed to grab 5 points lead once again with 1 minute left in the period. Denver Nuggets however scored 6 consecutive points in the final seconds
of the third period to snatch the lead 71-70.
The final quarter was the decisive moment of the game which was entirely dominated by the home team. J.R. Smith in particular was on fire. He was simply inexorable and was instrumental in leaving the Hawks devoid of any momentum.
Aaron Afflalo’s eventually summed up the night with a thunderous jam as the Nuggets cruised to 100-90 win.
The game had its exciting turnarounds however the home team completely nailed the final quarter. This was Atlanta’s third defeat in their last five games as they face big teams in the upcoming three meetings with Chicago Bulls,
Oklahoma City and New York Knicks.
On the other hand, Nuggets are going to oppose the average teams this week which opens an opportunity for them to improve their standing in the Western Conference. They are standing at the 6th spot with 35 wins that
matches with New Orleans who is ranked 5th in the same Conference.
Tags: