Nuggets Finish Road-Trip 4-2

Dec 9, 2013; Washington, DC, USA; Denver Nuggets point guard

(10) leads a fast break during the second half at the Verizon Center. The Nuggets defeated the Wizards 75 – 74. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports

The Denver Nuggets came away with an ugly win Tuesday night by putting up just 75 points to defeat the Washington Wizards, 75-74. Nate Robinson was the spark off of the bench yet again for the Nuggets, as he scored 16 points while adding four steals in 28 minutes of action. Wilson Chandler was efficient as well, scoring 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting, 3-of-6 from deep, adding eight rebounds. The Nuggets have been without point guard Ty Lawson for the past two games as he has dealt with a hamstring injury. Kenneth Faried would be benched again by Brian Shaw, being replaced by Anthony Randolph. Faried would return later in the game to put the Nuggets up after the go-ahead dunk.

The Nuggets finished the road-trip with a record of 4-2. After the wins over Toronto and Brooklyn, I automatically thought the Nuggets would earn a 6-0 record on the road-trip, but I was wrong. The Nuggets struggled against the Cleveland Cavaliers, failing to box-out Tristan Thompson and Anderson Varajeo, leading to extra-chance points. In their next game against Boston, Denver was not prepared to say the least. The Celtics would start the game on a 14-0 run, as Avery Bradley scored six of those points. The Nuggets would out-score the Celtics after trailing 39-15 at the end of the first, but it wasn’t enough. Ty Lawson would injure his hamstring in the third quarter of the game and accounted for 20 points. Can’t say enough about the offensive-play from Jordan Hamilton of late. The third-year pro out of Texas would shoot 18-for-41 from deep, 43.9% percent on the six-game road-trip.

Results:

Sun, December 1st: @ Toronto: W, 112-98

Tue, December 3rd: @ Brooklyn: W, 111-87

Wed, December 4th: @ Cleveland: L, 98-88

Fri, December 6th: @ Boston: L, 106-98

Sat, December 7th: @ Philadelphia: W, 103-92

Mon, December 9th: @ Washington: W, 75-74

Overall Grade: B

The Nuggets went 2-2 in the four games on five nights, which is tough to win in the NBA. I was impressed with the way the Nuggets played in Toronto and Brooklyn, but have lacked the offense since. Timofey Mozgov was a big part of the success against Toronto and Brooklyn, hauling down 35 boards in two games. Denver needs to take care of the ball better, they have turned the ball over 31 times in the past two games. The Nuggets will head back home to face the Utah Jazz on Friday night as they start a much needed four-game home stand.

What’s Ahead:

Fri, December 13th: vs. Utah Jazz

Sun, December 15th: vs. New Orleans Pelicans

Tue, December 17th: vs. Oklahoma City Thunder

Fri, December 20th: vs. Phoenix Suns