Superb Bench Contributions: Where Birdman, J.R., and the Deciding Factors Happen

After a convincing 120-101 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers Monday night, a few things became very apparent to the viewing public. First, Denver's bench is far superior to the Lakers' and for that matter, almost anyone in the league. Secondly, the Birdman's energy is unsurpassed by any player in the league. The guy is always lightning in a bottle mixed with Red Bull. Most of all, those of you out there that tuned into Game 4 have realized that when he's on, J.R. Smith has the most entertaining celebrations in the game.

Lets take a look at the Nuggets key bench players:

Linas Kleiza is a matchup problem for most teams. With his size and shooting ability, there is no right way to play him as an opposing coach. He abused the Zen Master's plan to guard him with a bigger player and scored ten big points last night.

Chris "Birdman" Andersen grabbed 14 rebounds and scored 6 points on some ferocious dunks last night. Lets not forget about his presence around the rim defensively. Although he had only 2 blocks last night he sent a message by destroying Shannon Brown's layup attempt in the first half. Birdman finished second in the league in blocked shots this year.

J.R. Smith was what he is when he's at his best, a great scorer. It started in the first half with continuous attack of the rim and a few excellent assists to Nene. In the second half he went 4-7 from three point land and on consecutive possessions pretty much sealed L.A's fate. All in all he ended up as the Nuggets' leading scorer tied with Chauncey Billups at 24 points.

When looking at purpose of bench play in any league of play, energy is almost as important as statistics. Players are usually expected to raise the play of the starters and help spur the team's surges. Birdman does exactly that. Not only does he draw the biggest fan ovations upon entering the game and making hustle plays, he is a force on the glass. His hustle should make any basketball fan proud in a league where laziness is permitted to its fullest extent. Birdman is never invisible on the court and contributes in any way possible. Players in that mold are necessary for any team that wants to win an NBA Championship.


There is no nickname for J.R. Smith, despite Jeff Van Gundy's idea to call him 'Smitty' when he plays well and J.R. when he is erratic (which he has a knack for being at times). However, something along the lines of 'Primetime' would suit him just fine. In a stretch of about 5 minutes in Game 4, J.R.: exclaimed that the Pepsi Center was his house after a tremendous dunk, did the same almost as emphatically after one of his nail in the coffin threes, and walked it out in a goofy little strut that could only make the Lakers cringe following his final three. When it was all said and done, the Nuggets were victorious and the Lakers felt the salt in their wounds. Who else can induce such laughter and humiliate the opponent as tremendously as J.R.? No one, that's who. Sure he plays like a moron sometimes, and his technical fouls leave something to be desired, but come on, those things are quickly forgotten when he walks it out right in front of the Zen Master.

So here we are, the oh so great Black Mamba, Zen Master and Pau Gasoft knotted up with a rag tag bunch of athletes at 2-2. The Nuggets are the only team to blow out the opposition in this series and that tells me they are the superior team. They may fade and crumble like they have in the past, but don't count on it. Game 4 sent a message that may have the Purple and Gold shaking in their boots.

Did I mention that Carmelo shot 3-16 last night?

Uh Oh.

I learned at age 8...

How to make an inbounds pass.   I may have had 2-5 intercepted by an opposing team in my 22 years of existence.  Yet somehow, the Nuggets have managed to do it twice in the same 7 game series.  First Anthony Carter, and now Kenyon Martin.  I understand that neither players are experts with the ball in their hands, but come on now guys.  Trevor Ariza doesn't play for the Globetrotters.  At least not yet.  This is another classic case of fundamental basketball ruining an NBA team in the playoffs (look to last night's Hedo failure to stay with Lebron for further proof). As sad as it was to watch, and as angry as I was when the game was over, there is no where to point the finger but to the NBA.  Fundamentals are as overlooked as salad at a Golden Corral these days.  And everyone seems to like it just fine. 

Nuggs-Lakeshow Preview

The Nuggets and Lakers will head to Denver for Game 3 tonight with the series tied up at one game apiece.

Thursday night's game two was one of the best of this postseason. Melo lead the Nuggs to victory with 34 points and nine rebounds. Kobe did all that he could to lead the Lakers for the first 47 minutes, but when the Lakers were in need of a game-tying shot, the ball went to the halfway washed-up point guard Derek Fisher, instead of last year's MVP. Fisher missed and the Lakers lost their chance to go up two games to none.

The Nuggets are going to come out tonight with fire in their collective belly and determination in their soul. As everybody has been saying, the Nuggs are playing the best basketball out of everybody, and have been throughout the playoffs. That being the fact, the Lakers will need to actually play like they have something to prove, because they do.

Throughout the entire postseason, the Lakers have played like they are already in the NBA Finals. That may work against the Jazz and Rockets, but the Nuggets are for real. The Lakers are going to need to come out ready to fight tonight if they want to win this game. Here are a few keys to the game for each team.

Nuggets:
- JR Smith - he was unstoppable in the Mavericks series and so were the Nuggets. For the first two games of the series, Smith has averaged 5.5 ppg compared to 16.6 and 16.0 in the Nuggets' first two series.
- Stay Big - Nene, K-Mart, and Chris "Birdman" Anderson need to continue their domination of the frontline. The Lakers' bigs have been touted as "soft;" something the Nuggs can easily capitalize on. While they have been out rebounded in the series, Birdman is making his presence felt blocking 1.5 shots per game and altering many others.

Lakers:
- Kobe - the former MVP needs to be "Mr. Big Shot" for the Lakers. When the game is on the line, he needs to take over, much like Bron Bron did last night in Cleveland. If he wants to combat Jerry West's opinion, Kobe needs to step his game up in crunch time.
- Prove It - the Lakers were picked at the beginning of the year by many as the team to rep the West in the NBA Finals this year. So far in the playoffs, they have not played like they should be in the Finals. They snuck by a banged up Rockets team and never put the Jazz away when they had a big lead. They need to play tonight like they are the underdogs, because in many ways, they are.