If the game is basketball, the Nuggets are not going to beat San Antonio. But this NBA playoff series is far from over.
Let the fisticuffs begin.
The fight began in earnest when forward sent a message as subtle as a lead pipe, clubbing Spurs all-star Manu Ginobili with a flagrant foul to end the hostilities of Game 3.
The Nuggets lost, but landed the last shot.
And it struck me as funny.
A fellow nicknamed Melo is now Denver’s enforcer. I teased Anthony about it Sunday.
“I’ll be the enforcer, but I ain’t that type of player,” he said, before speaking the hard truth about his hit on Ginobili. “It was a hard foul. I just wish I could have done it early in the game.”
If you can’t beat them, beat them up.
Call me crazy, but I believe the Nuggets are fully capable of overcoming a 2-1 deficit to win this series.
How they can do it is the surprise.
Denver can cause the Spurs the most pain with size, not speed.
Ginobili, who plays with the recklessness of an avalanche rolling down a mountain, irritates the heck out of Nuggets coach George Karl.
So squish the pest like a bug. Denver has enough big bodies to knock down Ginobili every time he drives to the hoop.
Going big is the best way to hurt San Antonio.
The Spurs do not want to play eye-for-an-eye and tooth- for-a-tooth with Denver.
“We’re not going to get dirty, because we’re not that kind of team,” San Antonio forward Tim Duncan said.
Let Karl beef up his lineup with at center, and Nene at forwards. Team this huge front line with Anthony and at guard, then see how the Spurs digest the problem.
“If I had to play big guard, I’m thinking I’d have no trouble adjusting,” Anthony said.
I’m thinking it could give Spurs coach Gregg Popovich major heartburn if he was forced to defend Martin with Brent Barry in order to leave Bruce Bowen checking Anthony.
Denver, a team in love with the fast break, cannot beat San Antonio by running from the challenge.
Karl must start forcing matchups that jangle the Spurs’ nerves.
San Antonio is mentally tougher than an NYPD interrogation by Detective Andy Sipowicz.
But I suspect the Spurs are soft physically, from the tender ankle that limits the lateral defensive ability of Duncan, to the indecisive post moves of center Nazr Mohammed, to the slender European body of point guard Tony Parker.
There is too much wishy- washy wringing of hands in Denver about how the Nuggets have already blown their best shot at an upset. It escapes me why Karl worries about his team getting bullied by Ginobili, a wire-thin Argentinean separated at birth from actor Bronson Pinchot.
After averaging a disheartening 82 points per game in the series, Karl and his blind followers will be tempted to demand the re-establishment of tempo. There will be well-intended pining to see play alongside Miller in the Denver backcourt for lengthy periods of time.
The quick tandem of Boykins and Miller can work, in small doses. But here’s a promise: Fast, pretty or easy elimination of San Antonio is not going to happen.
When Anthony admitted the Spurs have hammered a stop sign through the heart of Denver’s fast break, it was not a weak concession of defeat so much as a sober acceptance of reality.
Popovich is a connoisseur of food and wine, but when it comes to winning in the playoffs, he would paint chest hairs on the Mona Lisa and declare it gorgeous.
The best way for Denver to steal easy baskets is early in the shot clock, with Anthony rubbing off screens or Martin attacking the rim.
Why is Nene wasting away on the Denver bench? A big lineup could prevent San Antonio from winning again with lousy shooting and strong rebounding.
While every Ginobili score is a painful reminder of how general manager Kiki Vandeweghe allocated too few resources at shooting guard, the money and power in these Nuggets are invested up front. So use them.
The Spurs like to play head games, robbing foes of their basketball identity.
But beat on the body and San Antonio’s head will die.
Alongside Houston’s Tracy McGrady and Steve Nash of Phoenix, Ginobili is the rare NBA star worth every penny of a $75 ticket.
Nevertheless, the Nuggets should put an unspoken bounty on Ginobili’s head. No layups allowed.
Let the battle begin.
Want to stare down San Antonio? The Nuggets have two choices.
Go big. Or go home.
Staff writer Mark Kiszla can be reached at 303-820-5438 or mkiszla@denverpost.com.
