Two Sonics defenders level Andre on a drive to the basket. Surprisingly, the refs did consider this a foul.

Refs let the game get ugly, Nuggets lose the battle

This Nuggets were facing an uphill struggle in this game and it became more and more clear as the night wore on:

• The Nuggets lost in LA the night before, after Kobe hit the game winner with 0.1 left on the game clock.
• The Nuggets were lethargic and slow after 4 games in 5 nights.
• Voshon Lenard was the only Nugget that had it going, scoring 31 points.
• Little known, little used, rookie Richie Frahm from Gonzaga cancelled out Voshon's efforts with a career high 31 on 10 for 11 shooting.
• Camby went out in the first half with a back injury.
• The refs missed a good game, and seemed determined to slant things for the Sonics. I'm used to the Nuggets not getting very good calls the past few years, but there was a lot of similar scenario situations that got a call for Seattle and no-call for Denver. Don't even get me started on the elbow that Bowen took - Pepsi Center was in an uproar for that incident.

The Nuggets looked tired, and when their winning strategy relies heavily on running and hustle, even a loud and raucous crowd couldn't help them avoid their 3rd home loss of the season. Instead the Sonics are the team that ran, getting 20 fast break points as the Nuggets struggled time and time again to get back and play good transition defense.

The crowd got angry late in the 2nd quarter when Ryan Bowen went for a steal on the offensive end and instead caught an elbow from the Sonics' Reggie Evans in the face. Bowen went down as the other 9 guys ran down the court. He tried to get up and fell back down as blood poured from his face. The gusher was evident, even from the upper deck where I was sitting. 9 stitches later, Bowen returned to the bench late in the 4th quarter to a standing ovation for his dedication and effort. Unfortunately, it was too late to inspire the rest of his team to pull out a victory.

No foul? Even in hockey this would have been at least a 5 minute minor!

After Bowen's injury, the game deteriorated rapidly to end the half. The Nuggets had whittled the Sonics lead to 6 points, and had a foul to give as Miller guarded his man up at the top of the key. Coach Bzdelik signaled to make the foul on the drive. Miller did as he was told, but the Sonics player thru the ball up after Andre grabbed him and the ref decided to give him continuation, more than 4 feet beyond the three point arc. The replay showed Andre making the foul on the drive - when was the last time you saw a ref actually reward continuation in that situation? Andre sat on the free throw line in protest and received a Technical. After the Sonics player made three free throws, Coach Bzdelik received a three when the refs headed back to his side of the court. Suddenly, the Sonics had an 11 point lead again going into the half, after 5 consecutive freebies.

Coach Bzdelik summed up this disappointing loss after the game:

"We think we can just outscore people and do our own thing," Bzdelik said. "And so this is what happens."

He did go on to say that the refs didn't steal the game from the Nuggets, as the Sonics were the more aggresive team, and refs tend to reward that. Well, the refs sure didn't help either - losing control of the game several times.

Time to regroup for the rest of this homestretch - 3 more to go.

Til next game,

Alan