Najera gets start, leads Nuggets to big win

It wasn't pretty, it wasn't easy, but it was a playoff win, and with it, we've defended our homecourt 1-0.

Doug Moe's grand-daughter started off the night with a rousing rendition of the national anthem. Karl started the game off with a line-up of Camby, Anthony, Miller, Buckner, and Eddie Najera. After an initial slow start, the Nuggets responded with a huge first quarter run, ending the period at 24-13 for a nice 11 point lead.

Najera set the tone early. being active on both ends of the court. Eddie is not the most gifted physically, but he uses his size well, and has great footwork. When he got called for his second foul with 4:52 left in the 1st quarter - the Nuggets were up 13-7. Evans came in and did a nice job maintaining a similar intensity. It's a nice two-headed monster for Coach Karl to work with, and both can give the Clippers fits the rest of this series. When Najera went out, the Clippers went on a run, but Najera was able to come back in the 2nd period with similar energy, and similar positive results.

The Clippers were able to nearly cancel the Nuggets great 1st quarter with a dominating 2nd quarter. After a back and forth third quarter, the score was tied at 70-70. This is where Ruben Patterson did his best work, scoring two quick buckets to get the Nuggets offense going. Miller had two fouls that gave the Clippers three foul shots, but somehow the Nuggets had just enough in the tank to take control and hold them off.

And now for a new Game Summary feature - PlayerRatings! I'll refine this more for next season, but here's this game's breakdown.

	Najera was inserted into the starting PF (when is the last time he started?) and rewarded the team with a great effort defensively on Brand and great team defense as well.	Player rating: 4
	Another so-so shooting night (6-17), with an uncharacteristic bad night from the line (12-19) but he did help get many Clippers into foul trouble and set an all-time Nuggets record for most foul shots in a playoff game. Also, 7 rbds was 2nd on team behind Camby. Still, expecting more from our star.	Player rating: 3
	Marcus had a solid offensive outing - 12 points on 5-12 shooting, along with 14 boards, 2 blocks and 3 assists.	Player rating: 4
	Efficient scoring 4-6 for 8 points, in limited minutes - 17. His 2 baskets in the 4th were clutch and timely.	Player rating: 4
	Great defense, but 0-8 from three point line - yikes!	Player rating: 3

Game #4 is Saturday night, and we've got to find a way to win again, scratching and clawing if we have to, and knot this series as it heads back to L.A.

Game Summary written by: aswitzer

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