The Nuggets won this game in the 4th quarter when they outscored the Blazers 35-27. The Nuggets held the Blazers to 34.6% shooting from the floor which was a big reason for the win last night. Carmelo Anthony played out of his mind in this game as he finished up with 41 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists. Anthony hit an amazing 18 of 19 free throws last night as the Blazers just couldn’t handle defending him at all. Chauncey Billups also had a good game despite only shooting 5 of 14 from the floor as he finished with 22 points, 4 rebounds and 6 assists. No other Nuggets player besides Anthony or Billups scored more than 7 points in this game. The Nuggets are now 2-0 on the season.

The Nuggets outscored the Jazz 32-25 in the 4th quarter to seal this win. Carmelo Anthony was outstanding in this game leading the way for the Nuggets with 30 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists. Chauncey Billups was also on his game last night finishing with 25 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists. Rookie guard Ty Lawson was very solid off the bench in his NBA debut as he scored 17 points, snared 4 rebounds and he dished out six assists in only 26 minutes. Kenyon Martin (16 points, 11 rebounds) and Nene’ (16 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocked shots) each also had solid games playing mostly near the basket last night. The Nuggets are now 1-0 on the season.

The Nuggets have lost a lot of depth over the summer so they will be depending heavily on Chauncey Billups and Carmelo Anthony to carry the team. They also need Kenyon Martin and Nene’ to stay healthy this season so they will have to cross their fingers on that one. I think the Nuggets will be good this season but I don’t see them winning 52 or more games this year. So, I would take the under on the Nuggets this season.

The Nuggets have released SG/SF James White. This comes as a little bit of a surprise because of the lack of depth that the Nuggets have on the bench. In his very limited time in the NBA, White showed potential so he will likely get a chance with another team this season. The Nuggets may regret letting White go if he gets some playing time this season with another team.

The Denver Nuggets got to the Western Conference Finals last season falling to the Lakers. Can George Karl get the Nuggets to take the next step? He led the Nuggets to a 54-28 (65.9%) regular season record and they were also 10-6 (62.5%) in the post season. That was the best season Karl ever had for the Nuggets. In 5 years with the Nuggets, Karl has compiled a 225-143 record (61.1%) during the regular season and he is 13-22 (37.1%) in the post season. That means that the Nuggets were 3-16 in Karl’s first four years with the team in the playoffs. That could mean that he is improving as a coach and that is good news for the Nuggets. Karl has a shiny career record during the regular season with a 933-642 (59.2%) record. He also has a post season record of 72-89 (44.7%) in his career which the Nuggets hope they can help him improve this season.