Getting the Monkey off their back

This is the kind of statement that a Nuggets fan will have to read two or three times.

The Nuggets beat the Kings, in Sacramento.

Let that sink in for a moment. Get up from your computer and take a quick walk around the room. Okay, now you can smile. That's right - the Nuggets, who were not-so-proud owners of the longest string of road futility of any team in the NBA, beat the Kings in Sacramento for the first time since January, 1997. Wow.

As usual, Carmelo Anthony led the way for the Nuggets with 29 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals. His shooting was still a bit off, but he had a stellar game considering he was going up against Ron Artest, who has had his number in the past. In this game, Carmelo was not to be denied.

Linas Kleiza had one of the best "supporting roles" for a Nuggets bench player that you will see this season by someone not named JR Smith. His 24 points were easily a career high, something he reached in the first half. His performance had the national announcers on ABC going "who is this guy?" to each other while their hand's covered their microphone.

Allen Iverson had a bizzare stretch in the first quarter. Over the course of just 17 seconds, he picked up three fouls and a technical. The third foul was a joke, and he was pushed from behind while dribbling up court, causing him to cough up the ball. When a Kings player headed up the court past him, he reached up and was called for the reach-in. A time-out was called, and he went to discuss what happened with Ron Garretson, who promptly handed him a tech for what looked like a relatively calm discussion. However, being the veteran he is, he overcame it, settled in, and scored 24 points and seven assists, not committing another foul the entire game.

This was a huge win on quite a few levels for the Nuggets:

• Road win - although the Nuggets are well on their way to one of their best ever road records this season
  
  
• Beat one of the many teams trying to bump us from our precarious playoff spot
  
  
• Ended a two game losing streak
  
  
• Saw the Nuggets playing good team basketball against a solid team
  
  
• Did I mention ending a 20 game streak of futility in Sacramento?

On to Player Ratings for the game: (ratings on a scale of 1-5, with 5 being the highest)

	Linas Kleiza ladies and gentleman! He was the bench, pouring in 24 points on 8-11 shooting (4-7 threes) and 8 rebounds with 1 assist and no turnovers.	Player rating: 5
	Iverson had a wild but effective game, as noted above. He shot efficiently, scoring 24 points on 8-17 shooting and had a team high 7 assists and 4 steals to go with 6 rebounds. 6 turnovers weren't great but didn't hurt the Nuggets.	Player rating: 4.5
	Blake had his 5th straight game with 6 assists, but had an off shooting day, going 1-6. Still, he looks more and more comfortable in the Nuggets schemes, and almost always finds a way to contribute.	Player rating: 3
	Mr. Do Everything had 16 points on 8-13 shooting, 10 rebounds, 6 assists, and 4 blocks. His only negative was 6 turnovers.	Player rating: 4.5
	Another quiet but effective game in the post for Nene, who was 4-7 with 6 rebounds and 3 blocks in 30 minutes. Can we please get Nene the ball more?	Player rating: 4

Final thoughts:

Will the Nuggets finally string together a few games like this, or will they go right back to the maddening, inconsistent play that has plagued them the past few months. We'll find out Tuesday, when Portland comes to Denver.

Game Summary written by: aswitzer

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