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Nuggets/Spurs Series Recap
May 7th, 2005 by aswitzer
Written for ProjectSpurs.com as a fansite sharing effort.
This past Wednesday, the Denver Nuggets headed back to the Spurs SBC Center and were finished off 99-89, which ended the series at 4-1.
The Nuggets put a mild scare into the Spurs fans when they stole game 1 with a score of 93-87. However, I don’t think the Spurs players or coaches were worried at all. Their composure and calm was one of the keys to the series. Andre Miller was the key to that game, as he gave Denver an unexpected 31 points on 11-24 shooting. His counterpart, Tony Parker only had 12 points. Denver had just enough defense down the stretch from Camby and Martin to hold the Spurs off, when both teams went cold from the field.
Everyone involved in this series knew that the Spurs would respond in game #2, and respond they did. The Nuggets were severely outplayed by the Spurs in each of the first two quarters, creating a halftime deficit of 31 points that effectively ended the Nuggets hopes for another steal. The Nuggets clawed back a little in the third quarter, but ran out of gas again in the fourth, finishing the game 76-104.
For game three, the series headed to the Pepsi Center in Denver for two games. Speaking with firsthand experience, the record Nuggets crowd of 19,913 was amped up to see their team in the playoffs for the second year in a row, with the series knotted at one game. We knew that if we could just defend our homecourt, the series and an amazing upset could be ours. A surprising Coaching move from Popovich that had Ginobli coming off the bench in game 2, worked again for game 3. Ginobli was the key to this game, slashing and shooting his way to 32 points on 10-21 shooting, while hitting 10-13 free throws. The next closest Spur was Horry with 13 points. The Nuggets had a balanced attack from Martin and Melo, but could never catch the Spurs after leading briefly in the first quarter. The Nuggets vaunted running attack was again shut down by the Spurs efficient and effective defense.
Game 4 was an offensive outburst for both teams. The Nuggets finally found their offense, mostly from playoff bests by Anthony and Boykins (28 and 32) but the Spurs were able to more than match that with their big three - Duncan (39), Parker (29) and Ginobli (24). In my opinion, this was the best game of the series - more fun to watch, and the closest. Unfortunately, the refs felt they needed to be heavily involved after the hard foul on Ginobli at the end of game 3. They called nearly every contact they saw (and some phantom ones) on both teams, creating a game that never quite had the flow that it should have. They also helped create the longest game in Nuggets playoff history, and the longest game they had played in over 10 years, a triple overtime contest. This game did require overtime, after Melo hit two free-throws to knot it with 14 seconds remaining, and Buckner blocked Ginobli’s attempt just before the buzzer. The Nuggets crowd was estatic, but the Spur’s Tony Parker took over in OT to make it the third Spurs victory in a row.
Game 5 proved to be the final game of the series, this one back in San Antonio. This game had a similar feel to game 3, where the Nuggets kept it close thru-out, but the Spurs were able to keep them at bay. Anthony again had a solid game, but Boykins wasn’t able to match his previous effort. Parker led the way for the Spurs with 21.
For me, this series reinforced what I already knew, when the Spurs play at their highest level, the Nuggets are not quite ready to play at that same level. The Nuggets were feisty and should be proud of their effort. Although it had the same outcome and record as last year’s series against the T-Wolves, the Nuggets were much more competitive. This says a lot about their progress and growth, because the Spurs are frankly a much better team than the T-Wolves over the past two years.
The Spurs have an excellent coach who has an incredible system in place that not only takes advantage of its three stars, but allows players like Nazr Mohammed and Bruce Bowen excel when they would probably not be nearly as good with any other team. Not only are the Spurs a great team, but they are classy. It was refreshing to see this series not melt into the petty clash that occurred last year with the T-Wolves, where both sides were to blame. When Melo gave Ginobli that frustrated shove, the Spurs showed calm and class from top to bottom, and taught the young Nuggets a lesson in what the playoffs are all about. The Spurs were also gracious and complimentary in the end, noting that they expected the Nuggets to be an even greater competitor in the years to come, and a higher seed as well. I for one, agree.