Nuggets bring the "Kitchen Sink" at Nowitzki and Co. to thwart Dallas late

For the first time in 15 years, the Nuggets are in the Western Conference Semi-Finals. The Pepsi Center capacity crowd, whether they fully appreciated this fact, sure enjoyed the event. Whether it was the early afternoon start-time, or the fact that the Nuggets defense clamped down in the second half, forcing easy transition buckets... the crowd was loud and rowdy thru-out the game.

As the Nuggets continue to prove in this 2009 playoff run, a lot of different players could step up on any given night. Tonight, it was Nene, especially in the first half when Carmelo Anthony was saddled with early foul trouble. Nene scored a career high 24 points on 9-13 shooting, with 18 of those coming in the first half to help pace the Nuggets. He also had 3 boards and 5 assists to go with 2 steals and a block.

Dirk Nowitzki had a great start to the game - making his first 6 shots. He went 6-16 the rest of the way and only had 2 points in the 4th quarter. Coach Karl claimed afterward to not know exactly what defense worked so well, but I'll call it the "Kitchen Sink". Nearly every time Dirk touched the ball, he'd get an early dose of Kenyon Martin, but then saw nearly every other player on the Nuggets active roster rush at him, double him, hurry him, and generally bother him thru-out the game. The Mavs had 20 team turnovers, but Dirk said after the game that it felt like 30. Jason Kidd hit two three pointers and added 15 points, but his 8 turnovers were one of the many reasons the Nuggets won this game. Kidd only had 3 turnovers in the entire first round series against the Spurs.

The Nuggets bench trio of J.R. Smith, Chris Andersen, and Anthony Carter easily outplayed their Mavericks counterparts. Smith cancelled out 6th man of the year winner Jason Terry, while Andersen and Carter easily outplayed the rest of the Mavs bench in Hollins, Wright and Bass. All 3 Nuggets bench players were in double figures scoring, and Andersen's and Carter's defense in the 4th quarter were keys to the victory. Birdman's 6 blocks were the most by a Nuggets player in the Playoffs since Mutombo had 7 in 1994.

Chris Andersen was also the NBA.com pick for "STEAL of the NIGHT":

Thoughts/Observations from the game:

John Elway led the player introductions by annoucing Chauncey as the "New #7 in Denver" to get the crowd cheering early.

The Nuggets have won 14 straight games at home - the last loss was way back on March 9th against Houston.

The Nuggets outscored the Mavs 29-2 on fast-break points.

After Kenyon Martin's stuff block on Dirk, he whispered something to Dirk on the offensive end and got the tall German laughing.

Carmelo Anthony after he got fouled as he made a lay-up early in the third quarter, flexed for the crowd and one could read his lips as he yelled "I'm Back!".

Final Thought:

Dallas is a much better team than New Orleans proved to be, but the Nuggets are still the better team in this round. If the Nuggets continue to play hard, with solid team defense, they can win this series.

On to Player Ratings for the game: (ratings on a scale of 1-5, with 5 being the highest)

	Chauncey had an off-night offensively, but he was still able to distribute the ball and played stellar defense when on the court. Not a single free-throw in the game... how did that happen?	Player rating: 3.5
	JR couldn't find the range on this three-ball, so he drove to the basket with abandon, and the Mavs had no one that could stop him. J.R. had 15 points on 7-13 shooting. His only negative was missing 4 out of his 5 free throws.	Player rating: 4.0
	Nene had a career night in points and minutes in the playoffs. When no one else on the Nuggets roster was doing much offensively in the first half, Nene score 18 points. He ended up with 24 on just 13 shots. He also helped the Nuggets dominate the paint, where the Nuggets completely outplayed the Mavs on both ends of the court.	Player rating: 4.5
	8 points, 5 rebounds and 1 block don't quite tell the story. His defense on Nowitzki was a key to the game. Without Kenyon, Dirks's 28 points could have easily been 40+ as hot as he started out shooting the ball.	Player rating: 4.5
	Carmelo continues to show great patience in these playoffs. Saddled to the bench for most of the first half with a few questionable foul calls, he found his stride in the second half and ended up with 23 points. He also continued to play great defense and had 5 boards, 2 steals and 2 blocks. Both blocks prevented easy dunks by Dampier at the rim.	Player rating: 4.0
	11 points (3-5 shooting), 6 boards, 6 blocks, 2 assists, and 1 steal? Yeah, that's called getting it done. Birdman continues to have an amazingly positive impact on this season and the Playoffs. My ears are still ringing with crowd's cheer of "BIRRRRDDDDDMAAAAAANNNNN!"	Player rating: 5.0

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Game Summary written by: aswitzer