 |
 |
2004-2005 Game Summaries
Return to: 2004-2005 index of game
summaries.
 |
New Jersey Nets at Denver (11/23/04) |  |
 |
Nuggets win: 90-88 |
 |
Kenyon says hello and thank you very much to his old team. Nuggets get the win. ESPN
Boxscore
Web: Boykins seals 4th straight win (via ESPN.com) Next game: San Antonio in Denver, Fri @ 7:00MT Boykins saves best for lastI had the pleasure of watching this game from the Pepsi Center with good friend Dane Hansen - a long-time die-hard Nuggets fan, and his family. How did my friend earn this title? Lots of ways, but one would definitely be attending several games in the tough 1997-1998 season when the Nuggets struggled to an 11 win season. Dane and I attended many games over the years. You can read about many of them in the NH Archives. Here's a favorite, the first that his son Trey attended. What made this gathering especially fun is that Dane now lives in North Carolina, but took the time out of a busy week to join Tobey and I at a Nuggets game. This was my son Tobey's second game in 4 days, and with his short attention span at the young age of 19 months, I figured that the novelty might have worn off. Instead, he enjoyed the game so much we stayed til the final few minutes. When we waited in line for-e-v-e-r waiting for our free family plan pizzas, and missed the first few minutes of the game, Tobey kept saying "Nuggets" and pointing at the entryway to a nearby section. Also in attendance were Pop and Mom Hansen, along with brother Brent and Dane's two children - Trey and Tori.
On to the game. Kenyon Martin welcomed back his old team with a solid 22 point, 12 rebound effort. The kind of effort that his ex-teammates were quite accustomed to, but were on the receiving end last season. The Nuggets were unable to get their fastbreak game going, and so the game had a restless feel to it, catering to the Nets slow pace. A strange thing to say, if you watched any Nets game over the previous few years, but without K-Mart and an injured Jason Kidd, they are a much more methodical team. The first two quarters see-sawed back and forth as the Nets went into halftime with a 1 point lead as Melo's halfcourt shot harmlessly clanged off the top of the backboard at the buzzer. As we sat there at halftime, we suddenly realized that the halftime was taking a long time. When you're at the stadium though, sometimes you're the last to know what is actually going on, without the benefit of replays and announcers. I later heard on the radio that the game was delayed an extra 10 minutes as the officials set up shot clocks at the New Jersey end of the court. Turned out that halfcourt shot at the end of the first half by Melo actually broke the shot clock above the basket. The second half saw the Nuggets pull ahead of the Nets, but never away. With Anthony having an off night shooting (4-15) and not making it to the free throw line once, it was left up to Martin, Marcus Camby, Miller and Boykins to pick up the slack. That they did, hitting more than 50% of their shots, and the Nuggets hit 50% as a team. As the title says though, it was some late game heroics by Boykins that perserved this win. Richard Jefferson hit one of thwo free throws with just 37 seconds left to pull the Nets to within one point - 88-87. Boykins dribbled and probed the defense until he found an opening and hit a tough 8-foot running bank shot that put the Nuggets up for good. Ex-Nugget Eric Williams got a good look at a three but came up short. He got his own rebound and was fouled but with only 0.1 seconds left. He hit one free-throw, and when he missed the second intentionally, time officially expired with the Nuggets on top. Here's a few more pictures from the game:
Alan |
