Game Day Open Thread: Phoenix Suns at Denver Nuggets

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Thanks a lot!

http://www.janeironation.5gigs.com/cc.html

Just waiting for it to come up

Game on!

Suns get the tip but come up empty on the first possession, and KMart gets the Nuggets first on the board.

...Meanwhile, the Suns get a stop, and Amare gets a jumper, and we're all tied up at five.

...meanwhile, a heat check from Nash shows that three-pointer hasn't arrived from the airport just yet.

...but get the turnover on the misconnect between Nash and Shaq. Too many turnovers in the early going, although the Nuggets have a lot to do with that. 14-9, Nuggets.

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Suns leave Najera wide open for the three and the double-digit lead. 28-17, Nuggets.

...meanwhile, Giricek is playing point guard on this possession. Or was until the foul call. Shaq at the line for another one of two to make it 34-25, Nuggets.

Suns shot 57% to the Nuggets' 50%, but gave up five extra shot attempts thanks to seven turnovers and three offensive rebounds allowed.

...At least Giricek gets it back.

Meanwhile, a hot three-point shooter can get you assists too. Giricek hits again, and the Suns are within four at 51-47.

1. lose my voice from my incessent screaming
   
2. my neighbors call the cops from my incessent screaming

...meanwhile, LB's three puts it back to a four-point game.

...but not for long. I'm really starting to hate JR Smith!

Replay shows he probably had a case. Even the Nuggets announcers agree.

Suns outscored the Nuggets 37-34 in the second quarter. Their shooting is up to over 61% to the Nuggets' 51%. Both teams are shooting well from three. Or I should say two players from each team are shooting well from three. For the Suns it's LB and Giricek who have combined for 6-7. For the Nuggets, it's JR Smith and Najera(?) going 5-7 (seriously, when did Najera learn to shoot threes?). Nash has 13 assists, which equals the entire Nuggets team, and Raja has four.

Turnovers are the main thing to clean up in the second half. The Suns have 12 (4 by Amare, 3 by Nash).

Oh, and here's a stat you don't see every day: Nash with three steals. Of course, that's nothing compared to Anthony Carter's five.

Meanwhile, Raja and Melo get into it.

And now the announcers are saying D'Antoni's looking for the momentum tech too. Personally, I'd prefer the Suns get their momentum by putting points on the scoreboard.

http://www.ivytv.net/sport/index.php?id=338

Nash is (I think) five assists away from his regular season high.

looking like POG if we win.

Meanwhile, LB hits a three of his own followed by a layup, and all of the sudden the Suns are knocking on the door again at 95-93. Question is, can they finally get over the hump?

I missed part of the game - had Diaw traveled yet this game, or will I expect in the 4Q?

...I guess he's fine. Takes the rebound off of Giricek's missed three and puts it in to make it a four-point game again, 101-97.

Suns just can't get over the hump tonight for some reason.

...But apparently the Suns are immune to getting a stop tonight.

...but you gotta get a stop. Ugh.

...but Diaw's fouling out is not a good thing. Except it brings Giricek in, who's had a nice night so far. Melo's two makes at the line ties it up again at 120.

...Melo leaves the door open with a miss at the line, but LB misses the three on the other end. Not looking good, folks unless he can miss both of these.

It wasn't like we were blown out, although we came out flat, again.  

If this were the POs, we would expect this kind of split.

I think we can say that Shaq's FT have not improved as much as we would hope for.

At least skinner go some burn and we ran some lineup experiments.

When I turned on the TV it seemed both teams were playing w/ lead boots. Both teams. Slow. Uninterested. Unmotivated.

If I were a Nuggets fan and the Suns had lost that game I would have slit my wrists. For the Nuggets to have almost lost this game after the Suns lost Bell, had no Grant Hill and were playing against both the Nuggets and whistles all night...boy that would have really really sucked.

As it is, maybe if Denver ends up making the playoffs and either GSW or Dallas doesn't whomever the first seed is will end up thanking us. Your welcome.

He needs to take more shots.  I don't know why they weren't going to him more.  It's not as if the Nuggs were denying him the ball.

Everyone looked tired.  They had energy in spurts, but neither side could sustain it.  Give it up to AI and Melo, though, for pulling it out at the end of the game.

I'm glad the Nuggs fans got their money's worth, though, and got to see a lot of action from Kevin Fehr.

Like I said in the recap thread, we should have won this game, and it would have broken Denver's back.