Fan Appreciation Night Was Exciting
After an exciting game, the fans had alot to celebrate last night
By Ronald Tillery
December 19, 2004
Nuggets-107
Grizzlies-111
Posey had a hard time with Carmelo last night, but the Grizzlies had enough energy to finish the Nuggets off
There was plenty of energy in the building last night, which was a plus factor for the Grizzlies. The fans made a difference in last night's game and it caused problems for the Nuggets during crunchtime. Denver was able to make mistake after mistake with under 2 minutes remaining in the game, while the Grizzlies connected on almost every single play.
The play of Erick Dampier was tremendous as he led the Grizzlies with 26 points and 9 rebounds. "His inside presence made a huge difference in the game and this is the main reason why we put him on this team. Camby couldn't handle him late in the game and Dampier did all the hardwork inside for us on defense," Assistant Tony Barone said.
Kenyon Martin didn't slow down from his previous injury and was abloe to post 16 points and 10 rebounds in the Nuggets 107-111 lost
The matchup between Pau Gasol and Kenyon Martin went pretty even as Gasol was teh Grizzlies 2nd leading scorer with 18 points, 11 rebounds and 2 blocks. Martin wasn't playing during crunchtime because he needed to rest from his calf injury. "I felt a little pain late in the game and at first I was trying to walk it off, then I started to feel alot of sharp pain and I had to sit down," Martin said.
This allowed Gasol to take advantage of Nene on the inside as he had the height advantage over him. Stromile Swift came up big for the Grizzlies once again off the bench and has been averaging double figures off the bench. Swift scored 13 points in the game and Mike Miller was the Grizzlies 2nd leading scorer off the bench with 9 points.
Carmelo Anthony was hard to matchup against last night as he went for 31 points in the game. His midrange jumpshot wasn't going to miss and he kept going to the same spot. Later on, he switched up and start going to the post where he did even more damage to the Grizzlies. He ended up being in foul trouble late in the game with 5 fouls. He was forced to play off of James Posey which gave the Grizzlies an advantage.
The Grizzlies are now 2-2 on their Western Conference swing and will face the Sacramento Kings tomorrow night at Arco Arena.
Player Stats:
Grizzlies
R. Artest-16 pts, 5 rebs
P. Gasol-18 pts, 11 rebs, 2 blks
J. Posey-13 pts, 6 rebs
J. Williams-12 pts, 4 asts
E. Dampier-26 pts, 9 rebs
M. Miller-9 pts
S. Swift-13 pts, 3 rebs
Nuggets
C. Anthony-31 pts, 6 rebs, 4 asts
V. Lenard-21 pts
A. Miller-6 pts, 5 asts
M. Camby-15 pts, 9 rebs
K. Martin-16 pts, 10 rebs
E. Boykins-6 pts, 4 asts
-Ronald Tillery: 555-5555