AI was horking up shots. He tends to get a little out of control when a defense shuts him down as thoroughly as San Antonio did. The Nuggets were actually doing better without AI being the focal point. When someone else was bringing the ball up and running plays, the Spurs were less attentive than they were with AI.
On most nights, AI should be the leader and floor general, but when they play a strong defensive team like SA, they'd be better of using him as a decoy, to draw defenders away from the others.
Unfortunately for the Nuggets, they aren't equipped to play that way for too long. In addition there was nothing the Nuggets could do to stop the Spurs from getting easy buckets.
Early on in the game the Nuggets started to get the Spurs starters in foul trouble. I don't understand why they stopped doing that, only the refs could have stopped Duncan from controlling the game. Loved those shots off the glass that Duncan threw in, practically automatic.
This was a good contest to warm up the Spurs to play the Suns. Like the Nuggets, the Suns rely on a speedy point to start the offense. Expect them to play Nash the way they did Iverson. The Suns have more passers to rely on than the Nuggets did, and much greater depth, but if they can shut down Nash, the Suns will be slowed down enough to give the Spurs an edge. The difference here will be on the boards. If the Suns can get easy baskets by running, they will be a tougher challenge than the Nuggets.
