I know, b2b and all, but still. Seems like a bit of a statement game to me!

I was hesitant to go to this game because I had fresh memories of being drubbed by Phoenix. I wasn’t expecting Anthony, Billups, Afflalo and Nene to all play. And I wasn’t expecting Martin to sit. Even with Dallas playing last night, I certainly wasn’t expecting a Denver blowout.

I only get the seats that you can pick up for $10 of so six minutes into the first quarter. And by the time I got to my seats in the second quarter the game was over. Blah.

The highlight, though, was clearly the continued good play of the bench. Malik Allen has a nice jump shot and Petro is a lot more athletic than I remember. He still has those bad hands.

The injuries to Denver stars have helped this team, I think, by giving the bench some meaningful playing time and confidence. If Denver can stay healthy and fresh, there is no reason they won’t be able to roll into the playoff winning about 56 games.

Go Nuggets.

Where should I start? This game was in the bag early so I’ve decided to focus on other things…

1. People watching….I’ve never seen so many tall white kids wearing shorts in FEBRUARY! For the love of god guys….put some long pants on. I understand you are proud of your stick-like legs but you’re going to catch a cold (says the 31 year old “kid”)

2. Champ Bailey and Dre Bly were there too. Felt like a festive atmosphere but it took awhile for the crowd to get going.

3. Melo took it easy tonight. He looked like his ankle was still sore (take THAT nay sayers) but I liked how he was efficient and dished out some nice assists.

4. Looked for Andrew….but was stopped by some middle aged woman who thought I looked like one of her nephews. She was clearly drunk….yikes

5. Blue Moon was 7 bucks….are you kidding me?

san antonio, dallas and the lakers all made major upgrades to their rosters and denver did nothing. i will never call joey graham’s take down of ron ron in the paint not a major move. artest got the mid level exception and graham signs for a partially guaranteed 1 year deal for 800 thousand. all three of these teams are still trying to make major upgrades before the trade deadline. denver is in a great place right now. the best is yet to come. a league minimum 13 player roster, injuries and 4 players that were not with the team a year ago. if this is as good as it gets, it is pretty damn good. the team can still improve in several ways.

What a game, yet again. It’s like these wins just keep piling up. I don’t want to get too ahead of myself but these are the types of wins that championship caliber teams rack up on a nightly basis, and we seem to be fitting this mold.

Some things I noticed…

I find it to be no coincidence that the night we absolutely play with tons of energy and blow out a great team is the same night George decides to expand his rotation. All of our bench players played wonderful and their production begged for them to see more time in the future, especially Petro. I have always said that if you show confidence in your players they in turn will gain confidence and play better than they really should, as is the case with Petro tonight. When you put this type of player in during garbage time you are showing no confidence in them, and thus, often times you bring out the worse part of their game out instead of the best. But when you insert them into a heated game in which they must produce, they often times rise to the occasion and do just that. Petro, and Allen are not bad players regardless of all the crap I hear about them on this blog. They get this notion due to their lack of playing time, not their actual capabilities. Tonight proved that when trusted, they can contribute to the success of this team. I’m not saying that we should see a 10 man rotation every night, but I have no reason to believe that it would hinder our success, especially after tonight.

Why can’t Nene play like he did tonight for 82 games out of the season? I just don’t understand it. What I saw out there was a bonafide All-Star. His post moves were tenacious, his dunks emphatic, his finishes conclusive. And the funny thing about all this, was that he seemed to do it with ease, like he has been doing it for years. Nene is capable of doing some great things in this league. I just hope he figures out his own potential and realizes that he can get his and still contribute positively to the success of this team

JR is finally back. I don’t know what happened to him at the beginning of the season but he’s officially stepped it up. This is the player we have all come to love. The guy who we have heard numerous times has as much potential as anybody in the game. He is playing smarter, more sound and is taking calculated shots. If he continues this type of play, all I have to say is watch out Kobe Bryant.

In my opinion the Nuggets were rewarded for maintaining a high level of play in Melo’s absence. The supporting cast has stepped up to the point where someone will answer the call. The Nuggets had trouble winning like that earlier in the year and guys are contributing now in a way that forces GK’s hand to to extending the rotation. Kenyon rested, Afflalo and Chauncey were leaned on for 1 and a half quarters before it became an exhibition game. Melo didn’t have to do too much thanks to the efficient level of play we have been at. Proud of this team right now and the way they are fighting regardless of circumstance. Also – Don’t mess with the Johan. PETRO SMASH

and always have and always will, perhaps I should love the Nuggets more than the Mavericks and Jazz. I guess this requires some explanation as to why I don’t so here goes. As a life-long Utahn, I was naturally drawn to the Jazz for the same reason I was drawn to the Broncos. They were the best option and aired on television in the SLC market every game night of the NBA season. Of course, the Broncos were an easy passion because I loved those orange uniforms and John Elway always made the boring Sundays for a young Mormon boy like me when I watched them on KUTV-Channel 2 out of Salt Lake City. The Broncos were a natural fit. As for the Mavs, I always loved the old M cowboy hat logo and the fact that Brad Davis shared my name and was a really good player. As I served my mission in Texas, the only people that didn’t treat me like crap (true story regrettably) were Mavs fans so my attachment to the team only grew. However, perhaps I should begin cheering for the Nuggets if my Mavs put up such a crummy performance against a team that will represent the West in the NBA Finals. If the Nuggets rep the West, you can bet I’ll cheer for the Nuggies with comparable passion that I show on autumn Sundays for the orange and blue. As for the Mavs, come on show me something. Give me a reason to remain loyal. Again, the Broncos are the only team I’ll immutably cheer for, even the Jazz have vexed me from time to time.

• splendid, fantastic, majestic., etc. Sorry about the omission. I’m a professional copy editor and should know better

he suprized me (and probley all of us) tonight seems him and bird really play well together. if we knew we could get that kind of production out of him all the time this may silence all the need for our missing big. the bench did an outstanding job and i would not mind seeing them get more pt. i think maybe the injuries are pileing up because of a small rotation and i don’t see how these guys are not getting tired. who knows but what a hell of a win. GO NUGGETS

great to see melo back and he shot pretty well eventho he didnt really drive, billups was very efficient, Nene was beasting esp in the first quarter, JR made those shots u ussually question, Ty really was energizing, Johan gave us a nice lift, Allen was good but very hesitant, AA was good, Bird had a great overall game…

btw i jumped out of my seat when petro blocked dirk then i check the highlights and it wasnt even there !!!!

Knee tendinitis is a nagging injury. K-mart’s likely been playing with it for awhile. Given it’s K-marts knees my guess is Nuggets brass decided to let Kenyon rest the knee for a solid two weeks and he won’t play tomorrow against SA (again, just guessing here). If so Johan has earned a second night of extended time. If he can repeat his performance against the likes of Tim Duncan then I think George will have to consider giving him some pt regularly.

while everyone stands around?

Personally, I have gotten used to watching the non-Melo Nuggets who are moving around, passing, and looking for the open man.

I think the Nuggets have a tremendous opportunity here. They should depend on Melo less for 30 a game and depend on Melo more to facilitate assists to the other damn talented members of this team. If this happens, when Melo hits his shots, it will hurt the opposition.

I know what I am trying to say. I am not really sure I am saying it well. I think we need Melo’s 30 less and the team more – as a general rule.

Johan, Je suis tres desoler. Tu n’est pas un STIFF…pas vraiment. Tu a montre a tous, especiallment moi meme, que tu peut contribuer effectivment si tu a l’opportunitie a fair ca. Continuer le bon travaille et effort.

Johan played very well tonight given his minutes. I didn’t see him miss a pass or drop a rebound either. I really hope that that is what we can expect from here on out from the French Tickler. He was only credited with 5 boards though. I counted at least six. Dude could have had a double if he had hustled a bit more down the stretch. But then again we were up by 30+ points.

Every active Nugget scored! AC shot 50%! Johan had a meaningful block! I still think the Broncos should sign Joey as a tight end, or line backer. I really hope Karl keeps an expanded rotation for a few stretches of the season, and not just garbage time. Something is clicking in that Nugget locker room, and I likey.

He signed the football for Rocky, then completed the (2nd) pass. But the BEST part, was that then Rocky chucked that autographed football into the stands. Too bad Rocky couldn’t have thrown it up to my seats in the nosebleed….

and Bird. Keep the Dennis the Menace look going Bird. It brings out the best.

dude was so happy, i was happy for him. he said that for some reason, he wasnt nervous tonight and just played. asked how it felt to have the crowd give him an ovation..“im not gonna lie to you, it felt good.”

hopefully the next time he gets PT (against the spurs?) hes not nervous again and it continues to build his confidence.

great win, lets get 1 more and then get some rest.

it is not a coincidence that Melo’s lowest scoring average of his career (last season) coincided with the great run to the Western Conference Finals. I think Melo averaged somewhere between 22-24ppg (too lazy to look it up). but don’t forget that in the playoffs, didn’t Melo have like 6 or 7 straight games of 30+ points. We don’t need Melo to lower his scoring average. We just need him to be more efficient. And if Melo tries to beat another double team, I might strangle somebody. We don’t have Dahntay anymore; no one on the floor is an offensive liability. Even birdman has shown that he can be trusted (albeit, slightly) to take an OPEN 8-10 foot jump shot. I’d rather have bird/kenyon taking that shot than have Melo shoot an against-the-grain kobe-esque baseline fadeaway.

After all I did write the “Unleash The French Tickler” fanpost in January and I’m glad to see Petro did not embarrass me. I really hope he gets some extended minutes Thursday against the Spurs