Contact sport
Thunder radio guy Matt Pinto questioned the sheer number of fouls called on Oklahoma City at the Pepsi Center, noting that Denver put up 36 free throws, making 30. On the other hand, you have to figure that if there was that much going on, the Thunder had to be getting physical, something they haven’t been doing consistently, and in the end they were simply overrun, the Nuggets earning a sweep of the four-game series with a 122-112 win.
Then again, OKC made 25 of 29 from the stripe, .862 versus .833, so there was plenty of banging around on both sides. Rebounds were even at 40; the Nuggets shot a little better (53.8 percent to 47.1). What Denver really did well was to force turnovers: they got 13 blocks (seven by Chris “Birdman” Andersen) and 11 steals, versus 6 and 9 for the Thunder.
As always, the major threats were Carmelo Anthony (31 points) and Nene (23 points, 10 boards). Chauncey Billups rang up 18 points, 16 in the third quarter when the Nuggets started pulling away; both J. R. Smith and Linas Kleiza managed double figures from off the bench. From beyond the arc, Denver hit six of 17.
Kevin Durant put together a 31-point night, with Jeff Green adding 24 and Nenad Krstić 17. Russell Westbrook got his ninth double-double, 14 points and 11 assists. OKC made 5 of 12 treys.
Overall, a decent showing, but still an L, the 57th of the year. There’s one home game left, against the Bobcats; the team finishes with a three-game road trip.
