Arenas got his points, but got into foul trouble late, and couldn't stop Camby and the Nuggs from getting another home win.

The home wins are starting to pile up...

Leading up to this game, the excitement was around the match-up of off season acquisitions Andre Miller for the Nuggets and Gilbert Arenas for the Wizards.

Rookie Carmelo Anthony is leading the Nuggets in scoring so far this season. He hasn't been shooting that well, but he gets his points by also getting to the line and converting freebies, along with rebounds and assists. There is no doubt that he's been a part of the Nuggets improved offense this year. One thing that's gone relatively unnoticed is his improved defense. He started out with a rep of minimal D from his Syracuse days, and he definitely had a matador style when he first started. Well, no longer. He's often matched up against the NBA's premier forwards and he's actually taking on the challenge of shutting them down. In this game he was matched up against fellow Washington rookie Jarvis Hayes. He held Hayes to 0 points and 4 fouls in 14 minutes of play. Carmelo continues to impress me with his play in ways that I would have never expected.

This was a fun game to watch at the Pepsi Center. The Nuggets are really running well at home and they are really moving the ball well even in the half-court set. Coach Bzdelik has been preaching sharing and movement, and the dividends were evident in the stats - 38 assists on 44 baskets. That's a minimum of that one-on-one isolation stuff that usually yields a much lower percentage shot. Andre led the way with 8 dishes, but Barry and Anthony were close behind with 7 each, while Lenard and Boykins has 6 and 5. A lot of those assists were dunks for the big guys or wide open 3's.

The Nuggets broke open a close game with a huge third quarter push, outscoring the Wizards 30-17.

Back to Arenas vs. Miller. Yes, Arenas outscored Miller 27-15, but Arenas only had 3 assists with 4 TO's while Miller had the 8 just mentioned with only 1 TO. Most importantly, Miller's team won, quite easily. :)

Til next game,

Alan