The Nuggets destroyed the Bucks 125-105 in Denver, but it wasn't even that close as the Nuggets led by 30 at half and by as many as 39 in the third. Worst effort of the season? Probably.
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Tom Enlund breaks it down over at the JS.
"It looked like we lost our mojo," said Krystkowiak. "It all comes down to playing hard. We just discussed it and I'm not going to air a lot of dirty laundry about what's going on behind closed doors. This game boils down to, at the NBA level, that our team certainly and not many other teams have the ability to just turn it on.
"You had better come out of the locker room with a sense that you've got to get down in a (defensive) stance, you've got to work your butt off, you've got to share the basketball and take high percentage shots, and that's the secret to production and success.
"I don't know if we assumed the game was going to be easier than it was or what took place, but it was an avalanche and they absolutely buried us."
- I can't imagine it was very pleasant to be in the locker room at halftime or anytime thereafter, as the Bucks were outworked and outplayed in pretty much every way. Anthony (24, 11/16 fg) and Iverson (29, 11/21 fg) scored at will while Marcus Camby did everything else, swatting 10 shots to go along with 10 points and 11 boards. Tony Brown sounded absolutely disgusted when interviewed by Craig Coshun at the start of the third.
- The defense was atrocious, but the offensive production from Redd, Bogut, Yi, and Simmons was even worse, as that group finished a combined 6/34 (19%) from the field. WOW. The Nuggets are an effective defensive team but the Bucks' big guns (outside of Mo Williams) also missed countless open looks all night. Yi had a number of open looks but missed every jumper he took en route to a 2/11 performance, in stark contrast to his scorching 14/17 performance on Saturday. Bogut meanwhile banked a short jumper early but then missed a couple chippies out of the post and was totally uninvolved on the offensive end for the rest of the night.
- While the Bucks only wound up turning the ball over only two more times than the Nuggets (18-16), the Nuggets score off turnovers while the Bucks do not. Thanks in part due the fg% differential (55% vs. 41%), the Bucks got killed on the glass 48-37 against a team in the bottom third of the league in rebounding.
- Awvee Storey played in the first half of this game, so you know it wasn't pretty from a Bucks' perspective. Krystkowiak tried a number of combinations once the game became out of reach early in the second quarter, including a big front line with Yi and Charlie Villanueva at the forward spots.
- Inserting Simmons into the starting lineup obviously didn't provide any answers, as he couldn't buy a basket outside of a layup down low and was shredded by Anthony on the other end. As illustrated here, the Bucks starters were a minus six in the first quarter and then lost another eight points in the third, and every other lineup in between hemorrhaged points as well. The Bucks didn't find a net positive lineup until the end of the third quarter. Simmons and Redd were the worst overall with a -30 differential.
- It didn't really matter, but Mo, Royal Ivey and Charlie Villanueva made some vague effort. Williams was part of the poor perimeter defense that allowed Iverson easy entry into the lane all night, but he did score 28 points on 12/24 fg. Unfortunately, 22 of those came in the third quarter when the game was already out of reach. Royal Ivey also chipped in 14 points including four triples while Villanueva had 17 and six rebounds but also four turnovers.