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Melo, referees dominate divisional slugfest
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Jack Dempsey/Associated Press
Nuggets start season 2-0 through home and away rivalry wins
Two plot lines stand out from last night’s 97-94 Nuggets victory in Portland.
The first is Carmelo Anthony’s dominant performance at the Rose Garden. Melo scored 41 of the Nuggets’ points, shooting over and dribbling around Portland star Brandon Roy all night long. Roy scored 30 points in the loss, but missed what would have been a long, game-tying three as time expired.
In a game that sets the tone for the season-series between these Northwest Division contenders, Anthony was better than Roy.
Carmelo said after Wednesday night’s win over the rival Utah Jazz in Denver that it was a “statement game” for him. In that divisional contest, Melo saw his way to scoring 30 points. Against the Jazz, Melo dominated, but his team contributed heavily. In Portland, Melo took the team on his back and carried them to an upset win in one of the most unfriendly road houses in basketball. Talk about a statement.
The second plot line is summed up in a single stat – 90 free throws between the two teams. In a game that took almost three hours to complete, there were rarely three consecutive plays without an official’s whistle halting the action.
While the Nuggets benefited from more calls in the first three quarters, the referees saw fit to call even incidental contact against Denver in the fourth quarter. Each of the team’s starting big men was called for 5+ fouls, with Nene fouling out on an accidental collision away from the play in the waning minutes of the game.
Referees often take over games in today’s NBA. It has become commonplace, though far from accepted practice in the minds of players and coaches. In this contest, the referees tried to hand a home win to the Blazers in the final two minutes, and Portland missed more than half of its free attempts.
Would-be star center Greg Oden bungled each of two free throws with his Blazers trailing by one with 4.6 seconds left. Anthony grabbed the rebound off the second clanger and was perfect on his two clinching attempts at the other end of the floor.
In a game defined by big performances, official interference & clutch shooting, Melo played like a first-team All-Star… played like a great player in his prime. And in back-to-back games to open the season, Nuggets opponents had no answer for a singularly determined Carmelo Anthony.
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