Nuggets at Suns 7pm FSN AZ HD

[FArting]

When he's at his best, Allen Iverson is capable of carrying a team. He's carrying the Denver Nuggets right now.
Iverson looks to lead the Nuggets to their fourth straight win on Monday when they face the Phoenix Suns at US Airways Center.The Nuggets (21-12) are riding their fourth winning streak of at least three games this season. They held the defending champion San Antonio Spurs to 37 percent shooting in an 80-77 defensive struggle on Wednesday, shot 54.3 percent in outscoring Minnesota 118-107 on Thursday, and beat Philadelphia 109-96 on Sunday night.Although the wins took different forms, the constant catalyst was Iverson playing at the top of his game. The guard is averaging 36.7 points during the winning streak, culminating with a 39-point effort against the 76ers -- his former team -- on Sunday."We weren't very pretty offensively, and I thought his penetration at any moment broke their defense down quite frequently," Nuggets coach George Karl said. "He got a lot of easy layups because of it."The Nuggets' longest winning streak of the season was a six-game run Nov. 9-20.Denver is the fourth-highest scoring team in the league, averaging 106.5 points. Nearly half of that -- 52.2 points -- comes from Iverson (26.9 ppg) and Carmelo Anthony (25.3), who combine to give the Nuggets the league's highest-scoring duo. Their averages rank second and fourth, respectively, in the NBA.Iverson scored 44 points and had 15 assists on March 17 in his first game against Phoenix as a member of the Nuggets -- a 131-107 win for Denver at home. He followed up that effort with 26 points at Phoenix on March 30, but the Nuggets lost that game 125-108.It was the fifth straight road defeat in this series for Denver, which has dropped nine of its last 11 overall meetings with the Suns.While the Nuggets boast a strong offense, Phoenix (23-10) scores at an even faster rate. The Suns are leading the league in points for the fourth straight season, averaging 109.3.They surpassed that average Saturday, but saw their four-game winning streak snapped with a 118-113 home defeat to New Orleans. Phoenix lost for the first time in the last 21 games in which it had led entering the fourth quarter."We didn't make the big plays," Suns coach Mike D'Antoni said. "They made the big plays, big shots and big passes. They came up with big stops and big steals."Amare Stoudemire has made big plays all season for Phoenix, averaging 22.1 points and 9.0 rebounds. He's been even better over the Suns' last five games, averaging 28.0 points, 12.2 boards and 3.2 blocked shots.Point guard Steve Nash, meanwhile, is on pace to lead the NBA in assists for the fourth straight season, as he's averaging a career-best 12.3 per game. Nash has averaged 18.2 points and 10.5 assists in 11 games against Denver since joining the Suns in 2004-05.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/preview?gameId=280107021

Nuggets 109
Suns 116

Stat

 

[mjb21aztd]

Lets go suns beat the nuggets. I have a bad feeling we lose a close one here but i hope i'm wrong...

Nuggets 111

Suns 108

Leading Scorer Marion

 

[PoolBoy]

we better get amare the damn ball tonight. early and often. that game against the hornets was just ridiculous. give the ball to the star.

 

[Lynx280]

man how bout that game, think it was against the clippers, stoudemire scored our first 12 points or something, that was the one wher we blew them away i think

 

[Proteus]

I think this is the kind of game that Marion can have a pretty big night offensively.

 

[cly2tw]

The first play, Bell can't even move! Why is he starting!

Amare and Marion assisted each other for 5 pts in the first 1.5 min!

Is there a chat room for the game?

 

[PoolBoy]

he shouldn't be playing....i hope this season is due to injury, otherwise he sucks. let him sit for a couple weeks.

 

[PoolBoy]

FEED THE BEAST! amare is on fire. just keep feeding him.

 

[Ciani]

Raja played bad defense on the first Nuggs possession, but since then he is doing a good job on Melo. It would be good to rest him more, but Barbs is such a terrible defender...

Wow, the Suns cant miss on offense.

 

[Ronin]

Denver 5-17 from the field to start the game..good start for the defense. For some odd reason Denver gives up a lot of offensive rebounds.

 

[PoolBoy]

ticky tacky foul...but dumb choice on amare. he does that too much.

 

[cly2tw]

So far, we are quick to recognize mismatched and exploited them resolutely. Nash was passing the ball quite quick.

Too bad, Amare got 2 tickytack foul calls on him. But his defense was very good. He caused Camelo's 24sec violation by calmly shaowing him under the basket.

And Diaw has been aggressive doing all the right moves!

LB was not handling the ball much, which resulted in efficient offense from him.

Banks just in. Good sign. Kerr must have talked to DA about it. A turnover and an AI 3pt allowed, but it's early.

 

[Ronin]

who's more overpaid Nene or Diaw?

 

[PoolBoy]

nene

 

[Lynx280]

marion has 3 fouls

 

[Lynx280]

is this points scored some sorta record?

 

[arwillan]

Banks is in the game, i like this a lot.

 

[cly2tw]

Great defense by Banks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

 

[Lynx280]

banks has been awesome recently, he is such a sharp shooter! im impressed

 

[Ronin]

nene

It's close but i would have to go with Nene also.

 

[cly2tw]

Grant is just savvy! Banks is defending like Gary the Glove so far, aside from the 3pt he allowed AI in his very first sec.

I think it's important that we don't just trade baskets with any team.

 

[PoolBoy]

hows this for a mixup in the starting lineup to get some energy and defense?

nash
banks
hill
marion
amare

bench: barbosa, skinner, diaw
let bell sit for a couple of weeks to rest up

 

[Proteus]

Argh...we gotta rebound better. 10 offensive rebounds for the Nuggets with 6:53 left in the 2nd quarter.

 

[cly2tw]

Amare and Skinner were guilty of not boxing out each. DA should play Banks instead of Bell who just limping on court. It might backfire in the end for us!

 

[PoolBoy]

MOM GET THE MEATLOAF! marion is on FIRE