SIMULBLOG FOR SONICS V. NUGGETS

Nuggets 120 Sonics 112 – FINAL SCORE
Vlady threw the ball away trying to go down low with no chance of finding his man and it went right to the Nuggets and clinched the game.
Ray Allen had no field goal attempts in overtime while the outcome was in doubt.
A very poor finish by the Sonics


Nugs 110 Sonics 106 with 1:24 in overtime
Missed opportunities and poor plays so far in the ot
Vlady Radmanovic got beat back defensively twice by Najera of the Nugs. How does it happen twice, that is amazing
Luke Ridnour pulled up on a early three down 108-104 and if he is going to take that shot he has to make it and he missed. He is not a good enough shooter to take that shot with 18 on the shot clock.
Ray Allen had a chance to grab a rebound that would have given the Sonics the ball down 4 but he didn’t grabbed it securely and it went out of bounds


Sonics 102 Nugs 102 – end of regulation
Damien Wilkins buries a 16 footer with :11 seconds left out of a timeout
The Nugs were switching and doubling Ray every step on the court and forced the Sonics to find another scorer and Wilkins answered
A moment before the Sonics had turned the ball over and Anthony had a steal up two with the shot clock off and he forced the action and turned it over himself rather then letting the clock run out or get fouled
Greg Buckner missed at the buzzer for Denver
Ray Allen is super-human


Sonics 92 Nugs 90 with 4:35 left in the 4th Quarter
Awesome four play sequence.
Luke was in serious trouble on a broken play and he threw the ball to the rim and Petro grabbed it and dunked it.
Allen forces the defense to get Carmelo to switch on him and then he rose over CA to hit a three to put Seattle up 3.
Then Allen took a charge from Anthony
Then Allen ran off a curl pick from Petro, a great pick, and hit the catch and shoot jumper.


Sonics 83 Nugs 80 with 10:47 left in the 4th
Back to back to back 3's takes the lead – here we go.


Nugs 80 Sonics 74 at the end of 3 Quarters
The Nugs are forcing Luke to shoot and he is 4 of 11.
Needing to give Wilkins a break Bob Hill has gone to Mikki Moore to guard Carmelo. He couldn’t go to Vlady to guard Carmelo
The Nugs have the Sups on their heels.


Nugs 75 Sonics 67 with 2:39 left in the 3rd Quarter
The Sonics are having a really hard time getting the ball into the hands of Ray Allen
The Sonics are doing a very good job of defending Carmelo Anthony
Kenyon Martin would be the most annoying teammate
Seattle can’t score right now without Ray getting the ball. The Sups are shooting just 40%.
Bob Hill called a timeout at the 6:16 mark and then the Sonics went flat and got outscored 9-2.
Points off turnovers 21 to 4 advantage Denver

Nugs 53 Sonics 49 at the Half
Turnovers are the key here. The Sonics have committed 9 turns for 15 Nugs points and the Nugs have committed 3 turns and the Sonics have 0 points off turns
The Sonics defensive rebounding has been vastly improved and is very good again today at nearly 80% for the first half.
The Sonics are scoring in the half court when they need to.
The one stretch with Mateen at the point
Sonics dominated the offensive glass in the 2nd quarter getting 58% of the available rebounds.


Nuggets 41 Sonics 37 with 4:26 left in the Quarter
Mateen Cleaves just did an awful job running the point.
Ray Allen was off the floor and the Sonics didn’t have a chance
Ray Allen has two fouls and is getting a break.
Bob Hill is trying to control the game more then I have seen, by calling a play every possession.
Robert and Nick are back in at the timeout


Denver 25 Sonics 20 at the end of 1 Quarter
Flip is a mess tonight
Robert Swift checks out and is showing consistency that he must to be great in this league. He is really far ahead of where any one thought this year
Without Ray on the floor and no Rashard tonight it is going to be hard to find points
Radmanovic just got a post-up on Earl Boykins and didn’t score.


Sonics 12 Denver 12 with 4:59 left in the 1st Quarter
Robert Swift looks better tonight then any night I have seen. He is active, blocking shots, moving with confidence, and playing really hard.
Denver is one of the tops at forcing turns and they forced turns on the first two possessions.
Can Nick Collison stay out of foul trouble against Kenyon Martin?
Robert Swift has two new tattoos, one on the back of each arm
Anthony two fouls at the 7:07 mark of the 1st Quarter


Storylines
1) Nuggets pressure defense forcing turnovers against the Sonics
2) Sonics ability to keep the Nugs off the free throw line
3) Camby and Martin against the young Sonics bigs