Photo: AP

It may not have been the marquee matchup that ESPN had hoped for when televising this game, but the Nuggets and Cavaliers played each other incredibly tight, even with the Nuggets missing the NBA's leading scorer in Carmelo Anthony. The Nuggets used a fantastic 30-point first fueled by Kenyon Martin and Chauncey Billups along with key tough buckets from Aaron Afflalo and J.R. Smith to bookend their 15th victory at home in 18 tries. The Cavaliers have now lost in eight of their last 10 trips to Denver.

Melo out of commission: All-Star Nugget forward Carmelo Anthony missed his fourth straight game tonight with a knee bruise, and Denver was also without backup point Ty Lawson. However, the Nuggets did get back Chauncey Billups, Nene, and Chris "Birdman" Andersen, who were all listed on the injury report as well. Joey Graham started in Anthony's place.

Shaq excels early: The Cavaliers continued their Shaq-heavy first six minutes of the game pattern by getting The Diesel the ball on nearly every possession. Shaq responded with 3-of-4 shooting and 7 points. The only problem is that with the heavy touches for Shaq has come a heavy number of personal fouls for the big man. As a result, the Cavaliers are only able to get a few buckets out of him before he picks up two quick fouls in the first four minutes of the game, at the 7:28 mark tonight. Usually, that's where the foul trouble stops for Shaq, but tonight his minutes were truly limited thanks to the officiating, including an unfortunate offensive foul he picked up fighting for position underneath the basket. Shaq had five fouls in just 16 minutes of game action, and he shot 4-of-5 from the field for his 10 points, adding 4 boards and 2 assists. On nights where Shaq is getting in good position and getting good looks, the Cavaliers need to try and keep him on the floor as much as they can. That is proving to be a bigger problem perhaps than anticipated.

K-Mart's blue light specials: In Melo's absence, Kenyon Martin rose to the occasion in an electrifying first half. K-Mart had a dominant first, shooting 5-of-9 and scoring 11 points while nabbing 6 boards. Martin added another six points in the second quarter, but scored just two after halftime. His energy, rebounding, and late defense on LeBron helped energize his team and set the tone for a Denver victory. It was that kind of night for Martin, who even threw up a prayer three pointer in the first quarter and buried it. Martin's solid performance included 19 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, and a block.

Battling foul trouble thanks to garbage crew: It wasn't just Shaq, but Mo Williams and Anderson Varejao who were victims to the whistles of Mark Wunderlich, Michael Smith, and Bennie Adams tonight. These guys let a lot go, especially underneath the basket, both ways most of the time, which if fine. However, when Chauncey Billups is getting handcheck foul while LeBron and Varejao are getting clubbed over the head underneath the basket, that's not alright. The foul totals and free throws ended up being virtually even, so maybe I'm reaching a bit here, but I know that LeBron's lack of calls turned the Cavalier offense into a barren wasteland once he started chucking up outside jumpers.

Billups barrage: Chauncey Billups has a history of struggling against the Cavaliers in big games (see: 2007 Eastern Conference Finals), but the veteran guard has turned it on in recent showdowns, and he was dropping them in from all over the place this evening. Chauncey had 8 first quarter points before picking up 2 personals, limiting his aggressiveness. He also poured in three lightning-fast buckets, including a three in the second half's opening minutes, which caught the Cavaliers effectively with their pants down. Billups shot it 8-of-14 for 23 points, also dishing out 5 assists. An interesting comment came mid-game when CofC's Chris told me that he would rather have Billups than Mo Williams. I quickly shot him down for multiple reasons, including their age (Mo-27, Billups 33), their virtual push at free throws, Mo's edge in three point shooting, and Mo's friendly contract and chemistry with LeBron. I'm interested to know what you guys think. Chris later said he was exaggerating, but it is a fair observation. Would you rather have Billups or Mo? Speaking of Mo, Chauncey did work him over quite a bit in the first quarter, spending most of his time on offensive in the key penetrating. Mo Gotti scored just 11 points on 4-of-11 shooting and chipping in 6 assists.

LBJ sits, Cavaliers call it quits: The turning point in the game in my view was when LBJ's rear end hit the pine at the start of the fourth. The Cavaliers held just a four point lead, and they played like they were afraid of losing it. Their offense, which wasn't the model of efficiency earlier, grinded to a halt. The peak of that halt may have come when Delonte West dribbled about 20 seconds off the shot clock at the top of the key before turning it over and not even getting a shot off. The Cavs lost the lead and were outscored 6-0 with James out for just 2:10, and that was the beginning of the end.

Denver finds nuggets of clutch shots: It wasn't just the Cavaliers poor play; it also took some big buckets from several Nuggets to give them the W. Two that stick out are the corner three by Aaron Afflalo with 1:33 remaining to tie it at 91 and the J.R. Smith dagger stuck in the Cavaliers' backs with 31.6 seconds left from about 25 feet over the top of a screened Mo Williams. Meanwhile, the Cavaliers went to the well and came up dry on a Mo trey ball that misfired with 17.1 to go that would have cut the hole to just two. A LeBron three cut it to one with just 1.2 second left, and Billups misfired on his second free throw, making a fullcourt heave with 0.2 second left an impossibility.

goes to: Anderson Varejao. I'm not sure if anyone deserves it, but Andy comes closest for his 9 point, 15 rebound, 3 steal, and 2 block effort. Varejao did miss 5 of his 10 free throw attempts though.

Team Grade: D

This, like the Dirk-less Dallas game should have been a W, but these are good playoff teams who can rally for a short while even without their go-to guy. The Cavs shot 47 percent and won the boards battled 45-33, but their 62% free throw shooting (18-for-29) and 19 turnovers (8 from LeBron, which removes him from game ball consideration despite 35 points, 6 boards, and 7 assists) were far too much to overcome in the thin Rocky Mountain air against a top-tier Denver team.

The Cavaliers have dropped their opening game on the west coast swing, just like last time. Let's hope they can rebound like the last trip and win out. One game at a time, though, and that game is Sunday night against the resilient Portland TrailBlazers. They are missing five key players in Oden, Przybilla, Fernandez, Batum, and Outlaw, but they are still finding a way to win games, as evidenced by their win over the Lakers at home on Friday night.

All for one. One for all.

Kirk

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