Big night from Young not enough vs. Denver
Andray Blatche bounced back from an atrocious performance at New York on Monday that led Wizards head coach Flip Saunders to say that he played “terrible,” but it was barely relevant against the high-scoring Denver Nuggets on Tuesday.
Denver was far less distracted by the Washington defense than it has been by the Carmelo Anthony trade speculation and sent the Wizards to a 120-109 defeat in front of 16,121 at Verizon Center.
Blatche had 25 points and Nick Young led all scorers with 26, but the Wizards (13-31) were no match for Anthony (23 points, seven rebounds) and the Nuggets (26-18), who nailed 12 3-pointers, including six from Al Harrington (21 points), who connected on five in the fourth quarter to put the game to bed.
Blatche got off to a quick start with a huge first quarter that wasn’t necessarily pretty but was much needed after he had just six points on 2-for-10 shooting the night before at Madison Square Garden.
| Wizards notes |
| » Washington G Kirk Hinrich missed his third straight game with a sprained right elbow. |
| » Wizards G/F Josh Howard has been out since early this month with a left knee injury but is improving and hopes to play Monday when Washington faces Dallas, coach Flip Saunders said. |
| » Denver F/C Chris Andersen missed his seventh straight game with knee and back injuries and hopes to play later in the road trip, coach George Karl said. – AP |
Blatche lost the ball in the corner but recovered and flew in along the baseline for a slam. He spun awkwardly but finished his layup and drew a foul on Kenyon Martin, who also earned a technical foul after arguing the call. Blatche picked up another loose ball and knocked down a jumper from the elbow and fed Young after a turnover for a 360-degree layup.
By the time Blatche glided along the baseline for a soft finger roll, he’d finished the first quarter with 15 points, more than double his point total the night before.
The problem was, the Wizards were down 33-26 and struggling mightily to defend the Nuggets inside and out. On the perimeter, Chauncey Billups (15 points, six assists) hit his first four shots from the field, including a pair of 3-pointers, for 12 first-quarter points. Clinton native Ty Lawson (17 points) came off the bench and picked up right where Billups left off, hitting five of his first six shots. Brazilian big man Nene (nine rebounds) also dominated inside with 15 of his 21 points in the first half.
John Wall (10 points, 13 assists) took off on a lightning one-man fast break and made it 55-46, but the Wizards had a turnover and three missed shots in a row as the Nuggets went on a 10-2 run to open their biggest lead of the first half, 65-48.
Young had six points in a row and Trevor Booker hit a long, turnaround banked two-pointer at the halftime buzzer to cut the margin back to 68-56, but the Wizards got no closer than nine points after the intermission.
