Denver 108, Dallas 105

- Denver committed 9 fewer turnovers in this game than they did against Golden State.  Both teams were sloppy shooting overall (40.6% for Dallas, 38.6% Denver) but the big D turned it over 6 more times than Denver did.

- Chauncey is back!!  He hit some clutch pullups, despite having a poor shooting night (5-17) overall.

- It was so weird to watch the Nuggets run a half court offense, which actually wasn't that bad with Chauncey directing, though it did turn into the dreaded one on one game too often.  When AC was in, it was a much faster paced game.  I think with time Chauncey will pick up the tempo, but it was obvious that he's still getting used to the Denver system.

- Nene is getting better and better.  He was bruising inside tonight, working his way to 19 and 7 on 8-12 shooting.  When Chauncey starts running pick and rolls for Nene, expect those numbers to climb even higher.

- Rebounding continues to be a problem.  Even with Dampier neutralized for a good part of the game with foul trouble, the Nuggets were still outrebounded by 5.  Start boxing out, Nuggets!

- The longer JR Smith is on the court, the better he gets.  Why Karl refuses to start him and pull Dahntay off the bench is beyond me.

- Hopefully, KMart's wrist will be alright.  He looked like he was in a lot of pain when he injured it in the 2nd quarter.

- Carmelo was excellent tonight, and I give him a lot of credit for playing some good defense on Nowitzki and hitting ALL 14 of his FTs.

- The Nuggets were 92.5% from the charity stripe tonight, making 37 of 40 free throws.  I cannot remember the last time the Nuggets shot that many free throws that well, if ever.

Overall, a pretty sloppy game by both teams.  Passing was shoddy, turnovers and airballs were frequent, and neither team could really sustain an offensive groove.  Denver won the day due to some clutch shots (Chauncey!) and some impressive defense down the stretch.

I was extremely pleased with the rotations and traps the Nuggets were running on Kidd.  Although Kidd hit some huge 3s, he turned the ball over 5 times, which is a lot for a starting PG who's been taking care of the ball much better this year.

Great win for the Nuggets.  As Chauncey continues to mold himself to Denver's style, I think this team is going to get better and better.