Nuggs/Celts Recap

I'm driving to the game with my buddy Adam.  We make our pregame predictions, Adam says 110-107 Nuggets, I say 104-98 Nuggets.  Adam and I are confident in a Nuggets win tonight.  Every time Adam and I have gone to a Nuggets game together, the Nuggets have won.  God help the NBA if we ever get season tickets.  We also predict that 35-40% of the crowd will be Celtics fans.  We have no idea what is about to happen.

Pregame:
Do they really need cheerleaders and a dance team?  I mean, how much peppy dancing do we really need?  Wait a second, they just rode each other like ponies.  Yes, we need both.

Najera is goofing around a lot during warmups, I think he might be drunk

Initial predictions were low, it looks to be 40-50% Celtics

Q1
The game begins.  KG looks fired up, almost gets a quick steal after the Nuggets win the tipoff.  Kenyon Martin is in the starting lineup and is looking lively.  He's off to a quick start, with a couple of monsterous dunks.  He's Adam's early pick for the game's MVP.  The action is heated early on, both teams are playing at a high energy level, neither team backing down.  Pierce is hit with a quick technical, and keeps jawing at the refs.  The Nuggs fan next to me succinctly sums it up, "We're not lucky enough to have Pierce get kicked out in the 1st."  The Nuggets are going after the Celtics, being the aggressors, and the C's are having trouble keeping up.  However, Jesus Shuttlesworth is showing he can still hit open jumpers.  Might want to guard those.

Q2
The action gets sloppier.  The Nuggets have lost a bit of their initial energy, and are having some problems stopping the Celtics transition offense.  During a timeout, Rocky pulls off a Dwight Howard superman impression.  Nice.  Someone hits a big 3 (sorry, game was getting too good, notes became less complete), leading me to wonder if there is anything stupider than T's For 3's, DiGiornio.  I don't think there is.  This half begins to become a sign of things to come, as the refs start showing their Celtic pride.  We've god a blatant no-call on an over the back when JR Smith should've had an easy rebound.  This is immediately following by a BS foul call as time expires in the half.  Karma saves the day and Rondo misses the free throw.  

The halftime show is astounding.  It's some acrobat lady on a unicycle.  She is stacking bowls on one foot, balancing the unicycle with the other, and then using her foot to throw the bowls onto her head.  I cannot adequately explain it.  We begin to wonder how somebody learns this talent.  We finally decide that the answer is simple: There is no spoon.  That's right, I've timewarped back to 1999 and just made a Matrix reference.

Q3 & Q4
Now, up to the point, I've been taking notes.  But it becomes clear that these next two quarters cannot be experienced with pencil and paper in hand.  The Nuggets and Celtics battle back and forth, neither able to hang on to a lead for very long.  Every time the C's get a two-point lead, we begin hearing the Boston Bandwagoners.  Obnoxious as hell, and complete idiots.  But their banter energizes the Denver crowd.  The 3rd and 4th quarters blur together as the score creeps ever higher.  The refs seem intent on handing Boston the game.  At one point in the 4th we notice that Melo has 5 fouls, 4 of which were called as offensive fouls.  The score remains close, but a couple of clutch threes from Kleiza have this place rocking.  The Nuggs fan next to me reiterates that he doesn't want to give up Kleiza in order to get Artest.  I point out how much Artest would help the defense, and how games like this are exactly why I want to see Kleiza join my Kings.  The entire crowd is now standing, this is now far more than a basketball game.  These teams are battling for the souls of a city.  Camby hits a clutch 3, and the place erupts.  There's a late timeout, maybe 2 minutes remaining, the Nuggets are trying to pull away, and the place is pumped.  The energy dies down, and folks return to their seats until the action begins.  But then we see a familiar site.  A site you see at every Nuggets game.  The clip from "Network".  A clip which usually falls flat, but tonight is different.  "So I want you to get up now. I want all of you to get up out of your chairs. I want you to get up right now and go to the window. Open it, and stick your head out, and yell, 'I'M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!'"  Tonight the crowd rises, and the Nuggets are loving the energy.  The vibe is reminiscent of a playoff game.  The Nuggets manage to pull ahead as time slips away, and Celtics fans begin bolting for the exits.  My voice is hoarse, and I can't remember the last time my hands hurt from clapping so hard.  But it's not over.  Not that easy.  The Celtics start hitting threes and fouling immediately.  The Celtics pull within 4 points, but the Nuggets are clutch at the line.  The victory is sealed.

I feel like I am unable to truly explain what it was like in that building last night.  If you were there, please chime in.  I can only describe the game as being truly epic.  Now that, my friends, is what basketball fans live for.