http://www.memphisflyer.com/grizblog.html Griz-Nuggets Game Notes Contact: Chris Herrington :: POSTED @ 19:58:58 We're here at the Forum with 10 minutes before the tip. Sorry for the lack of preview tonight. Griz come into this one on a three-game losing streak, the lowest under Mike Fratello this season. With Pau Gasol and Stromile Swift both out with injuries, the Griz offense has gone south, with the team scoring only 83 points per game over the past four games while shooting a dismal 35-percent from the floor and 28-percent from the line. Shane Battier and Earl Watson have been particularly horrid from the field, but really it's been a team-wide collapse, as the Griz lack of dynamic perimeter scorers has been exposed with the decimation of the team's inside game. Denver comes into town 8-4 under new coach George Karl and with the easiest second-half schedule of any of the Griz' Western Conference playoff contenders. With the Griz staring at a near-certain loss tommorrow night at San Antonio, this is a big game. See you back here at the first timeout break. On another note, listen for me tonight on the 103.5 FM Wrap It Up postgame show , which I'll be co-hosting alongside Chuck Woodsen. 1st Quarter: Griz lead it 10-7 with 5:43 to play in the quarter in a sluggish display of offensive basketball. Nuggets have only hit 2 of 10 shots, one of them a wide-open dunk by Carmelo Anthony. Griz are a more respectable 42-percent, but that includes 0-4 from downtown, continuing the poor three-point shooting that's marred their recent slump. James Posey making his first appearance in quite a while coming out of this timeout. Nuggets take 20-19 lead after a brutal first quarter of basketball. Nuggets lead despite horrid 5-19 shooting because they're getting to the line (doubling Griz up, 10-5, in the quarter) and Griz can't find the bucket from downtown (0-6 on the quarter). 2nd Quarter: Bonzi Wells ejected after getting two technicals (the second for arguing about the first). Referee Ken Mauer has been getting an earful from Mike Fratello all night, so you have to wonder if that had something to do with his quick trigger. With Dahntay Jones going on the injured list today, not a good time to lose a swingman. Fratello has Watson and Burks in together for a small backcourt. Burks and Boykins on the floor together should be fun to watch. With Burks and Boykins both on the court, the pace of the game has picked up. Really, I doubt there have been too faster players on the floor together in an NBA game all season. Nuggets up 30-26 with 8:40 to go in the quarter as the disparity on free-throw attempts (18-5 Denver) is starting to get ridiculous. Denver is doing quite a bit of trapping and pressing in the backcourt, which isn't causing a lot of turnovers (only five so far) but has had Grizzlies getting into their offense late in the clock and is resulting in some bad Griz shots. Nuggets parade to the free-throw line continues as Nuggets lead 34-26 with 7 minutes to play in the quarter. Failed chant a fan a few rows behind me just tried to start: 1-2-3 KILL THE REFEREE! Yep. It's been that kind of game. Nuggets take 50-40 lead into half and have taken 28 free-throw attempts to the Grizzlies' 11. Part of that is explained by the Nuggets attacking the lane more (they've only taken 4 threes to the Grizzlies' 11), but there have been some really bad calls that have gone against the Griz tonight. 3rd Quarter: Well, one thing we've learned tonight is that Mike Fratello didn't watch the Griz that closely last year: J-Will drives the lane, reaches back into his rookie-year bag of tricks for a behind the back dribble in the lane and finds Lorenzen Wright open for a dunk. Ren bobbles the pass because that's what he always does in those situations. Coming into the timeout, Fratello walks out on the court screaming at Ren: "Catch the ball! Catch and finish!" Keep dreaming coach. On the bright side, Griz effort and execution is otherwise on an upswing after an ugly start to the quarter, behind the effort and improved shooting of Cardinal, Battier, and Miller. Griz now down 59-58 with 4:16 to go in the quarter. Chemistry, outside shooting, and pure effort bring the Griz back to lead 71-62 heading into the third as Cardinal hits a three at the buzzer. Most refreshing blast from the past: James Posey tip-toeing the sideline to steal ball away from Boykins from behind. Vintage Posey. 4th Quarter: Brian Cardinal hasn't sat in the half yet and his three-point barrage has lead to a season-high 21 points and a six-point Griz lead, reduced from 9 after Byron Russell knocked down the Nuggets first three of the game. 8:05 to play. Ren finds redemption with a fastbreak catch-and-finish off a J-Will pass on the break to put Griz up 87-79 with 2:51 to play. Ren also coming up with huge offensive rebounds down the stretch. A couple of bad Griz turnovers (Cardinal and Williams) combined with a Marcus Camby putback dunk and Andre Miller three cut Griz lead down to 2, but a twisting Cardinal layup has it back up to 4, 1:23 to play. Missed J-Will free throws and an Andre Miller three-point play leads to the Grizzlies' first overtime game of the season. 91-91 end of regulation. Overtime: 93-93 game with 2:39 to play. Brian Cardinal transition steal and baseline J put the Griz up, but Denver followed with an alley-oop to Camby. Carmelo Anthony hasn't fouled out' he's just been benched. Remember when this guy was supposed to be the Bird to Lebron's Magic? I always thought he was more the Mark Aguirre, but maybe even that was generous. A deluge of Griz fouls sends Battier and Miller both to the bench and, finally, Camby to the line to put Denver up 95-93 with 1:08 to go. Nuggets take it 97-94. Tough, tough loss for the Griz tonight, fourth in a row and San Antonio on deck for tomorrow night. --

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