Nuggets With Sauce

  Denver can play. For the record, I'd pick them right now for my de facto NBA darkhorse that could easily surprise any and everyone in the coming 2012-13 playoffs. From an excellent, cancer-beating coach in George Karl to a well-rounded team that's as good on offense as it is on D to a deep bench to a fierce home-court advantage, the Nuggets got it going on.
  The TWolves are actually one of only three teams to beat the Nuggets in 31 games in the Mile High City this season. They played tough in the first half and then fell apart a little in the third quarter, but--as often is the case--mounted a gutsy comeback in the fourth quarter.

Rubio, most likely milliseconds before
having McGhee toss his shit five rows up.

  The game, which ended up 111-88 in Denver's favor, turned for good with roughly nine minutes remaining. The Wolves had been down hard with Denver threatening to throttle them when the Luke Ridnour found himself with a wide open threeball in the left corner that, if converted, would've cut the Nuggets' lead to six. Luke, though, clanged the back iron and failed to get back on D as the ball bounded long and the Nuggies threw a TD pass to former Wolf Corey Brewer (he of a solid-looking big boy beard that gives him a much needed edge to that ever-smiling face, if not a bit of extra weight) for the cramberry jam. Another Sota "empty possession" (droll Wolves play-by-play stooge Dave Benz's verbal tic of a phrase for when the Wolves fail to score...which happens, uh, a lot) and a threeball by Ty Lawson (draftee of the TWolves in the Rubio-Jonny Flynn draft) later, and the Wolves are down fourteen, just like that. Another minute and a half later the gap balloons to 23. So, yeah, could have easily been a six-point spread with 9 minutes but ended up being 23 with 6 minutes. A quick death. An inglorious guillotine of a demise for the Wolves.
  Go Nuggets. Beat the Thunder and Spurs.

NATE'S NOTES...Some entertaining sauciness from both Adelman and Karl in the fourth quarter when both of them nearly busted a respective nut in picking up fourth quarter Ts. Karl, in partic, really spazzed out and had to be briefly restrained from charging the ref, who was walking away and didn't even really see Karl's eye-bugging reaction... JaVale McGhee made the play of the night when he (an athletic albeit clodhoppin' 7-foot-plus behemoth) picked the pocket of Rubio (a ball wizard if ever there was) on the perimeter and then went coast to coast for a turkey dinner. He also had two or three other demoralizing dunks and sit-yo-ass-down swats... Wolves center Chris Johnson is athletic, but damn raw. He gives the Wolves more of a chance to compete than, say, Greg Stiemsma, but he gets mad or embarrassed and loses his mind fairly easily and often, most likely goaltending shots or taking huge, swinging swipes on block attempts that simply aren't necessary... Dave Benz is my new Robby Incmacrapski. He's just straight up clueless about hoops and has zero feel for the game. I can see him on the speech team in about ninth grade, wishing he could be on the ball team. He tries hard, sure, but come on Fox Sports North. Jim Peterson, no trophy talker himself, seems pissed he has to work with Benz and constantly reel him back in from constant bonerific statements. But Peterson gets no pass, either. I've had it up to here with his intolerance of Alexey Shved. Jim, he's a rookie, he's from Russia, he's hit the wall, he gets no calls. But he's been healthy all season, he's got game, and he should figure heavily into the Wolves' rotation the next few seasons--give him a damn break. Or better yet, go interview his ass and get his perspective.