Ending a five game losing streak against Kobe and Co. is just what the Dr. ordered...

ESPN Boxscore

Web: Kobe held to 16 points (ESPN.com

Next up: Minnesota at Denver, Fri @ 8:30MT

Nuggets end their misery, and do it against Lakers

Ah, the first win of 2005.

Just when the season was starting to feel like it was spiraling out of control, Coach Cooper gets his 2nd win (against his old team) and the Nuggets put together a solid full-game effort for a much needed W.

Going into this game, it seemed like things were stacked against the Nuggets:

1. Playing the Lakers who had won the first two games in the 2004-2005 series
2. Playing Kobe who was averaging 40+ points a game in the past 5 against the Nuggets
3. Playing on about 2 hours sleep according to an account from Schemmel on the pre-game radio show. (Their flight home from Sacramento was delayed by fog, and then re-routed to Colorado Springs. Their bus got back to Denver aroun 8:30AM - just in time for the blizzard that was hitting the city.)
4. Lost 5 games in a row

Well, thankfully the Nuggets shrugged all that off and did nearly everything right in this game - started quick, ran well, played good team defense on Kobe (he was held to 16 points) and played with energy and enthusiasm.

Hard to pick a star player for the Nuggets - all starters and even the bench played well, but I would give it to Andre Miller. He guided the team with 7 assists, put in 15 points, and had 5 rebounds and 3 steals. Compare his line to Kobe (nearly identical) and its even more impressive.

Carmelo Anthony came out of a shooting slump and hit 7-14 for 17 total points. He had a nice mix of jumpers and alley-oop dunks. Early in the game Melo lost his shoe while on the offensive end. He really loafed getting back to his shoe and putting it on, while his teammates played a man short on the defensive end. I love how Coach Cooper did not baby his superstar in this situation. Instead, he called a timeout at the next opportunity and replaced Melo with DerMarr Johnson, sitting down Melo and letting him know that that kind of effort would not fly. Melo went back in a few minutes later and played with more effort.

When Denver made 3 consecutive alley-oops late in the 4th quarter, Rudy T. yanked his Lakers starters and put in his bench, disgusted with their effort. It was a no-doubter from there on out.

Game Summary written by: aswitzer

BONUS: Two game summaries in one!

Nuggets D' up the Lakers

Kobe Bryant had a rude awakening when he returned to Denver. He was first met with boos from the fans and than a stifling Nuggets defense, which Coach Michael Cooper preached when he took over as the Nuggets coach. The victory was Cooper’s second as a Nuggets coach, as the Nuggets won 98-83.

The win improves the Nuggets record to 15-20, ending their five game losing streak that actually was started when they faced the Lakers in Los Angeles.

The Nuggets defense forced 11 first half turnovers, allowed only three made field goals in the second quarter and held the Lakers to only 35 first half points. They also slowed Bryant, who scored 16 points, hitting only five of his 14 shoots and making only two of his eight three-pointers. The Lakers couldn’t hit the long ball the whole game, making only five of their 29 attempts.

The Nuggets, whose flight from Sacramento was delayed last night, went to their bench early and often, with their bench out-scoring the Lakers bench 33 to 19. 11 of the Lakers bench points come at the end of the game. The bench was led by Nene, with 10 points and Dermarr Johnson, who hit all of his shots scoring nine points and Earl Boykins who had eight points and four assists.

Coach Cooper and Carmelo Anthony got into a heated conversation after Cooper sat him down early in the game for not getting back on defense. Anthony came back into the game with energy and finished the game with 17 points off of seven of 14 shooting, most of which were alley-oops and dunks. Martin led the Nuggets with 18 points and three block shots, he also had a number of alley-oops. Miller chipped in with 15 points and seven assists.

This game may be what the Nuggets need to get back on track, but they need to come into the Minnesota game with the same energy and defense.

Game Summary written by: jmaness

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