Welcome back, Allen Iverson! Here's a loss!

By Jason Wojciechowski on December 8, 2009 at 7:50 PM

While I wait for a demo of Final Draft to download and install, four games from Monday.

Nuggets 93, Sixers 83: Allen Iverson started and played 38 minutes, just like he always has, but he scored just 11 points on 11 shots, with AI2 (better known 'round these parts as Iggy) doing the heavy lifting, scoring 31. Thaddeus Young also took 21 shots, putting the kibosh on my idea that his offense would be taking a backseat to Iverson's. Of course, he only scored 21 points on those 21 (no free throws), so the Nuggets were perfectly happy to have him keep chucking away. Only Willie Green got more than 10 minutes off the bench for Philly, and he was the only benchie to put the ball in the basket. The bench shot 1-15 overall and didn't make a single trip to the foul line. That's not a recipe for success. Not that this assemblage of talent was going to beat the second-best team in the West anyway. Chauncey led the way with 31 of his own, as Carmelo had an off night (5-21). Ty Lawson continues to impress, putting up 12/6/4 in 24 minutes.

Blazers 84, Knicks 93: That's not becoming of a team trying to be a playoff contender. And, really, it wasn't even this close -- New York led by 23 going into the final period. Weirdly, even up that much, the bench mob still didn't see any time. Toney Douglas got eleven minutes, but otherwise, it was the same seven-man rotation I talked about yesterday. Twenty assists on 32 makes, 13-26 from three, and just twelve turnovers? That's pretty solid, especially since no one had a crazy night. Harrington's shot, in particular, was off (4-15), but the rest of the team contributed at a solid enough pace. Portland, meanwhile, continues to lose. Brandon Roy scored 27. As the shooting guard. And the Blazers lost. (Yes, I'm going to keep hammering on this.) LaMarcus Aldridge had 19/13 and was on the floor for 45 minutes, which is important because what passes for bench size in Portland these days is Juwan Howard.

Warriors 88, Thunder 104: Some gaudy individual numbers for the Thunder-Ra in this one: James Harden had 26/9/5 in 30 minutes off the bench; Jeff Green had 21/13/3; and Kevin Durant led the team in scoring with 28/9/4 (three steals). The downside for Durant was 24 shots and six turnovers. The upside was a +/- of +21 (but eff +/-, right, Kevin?). Hijack City just destroyed the Warriors on the boards, grabbing 42 of Golden State's 45 misses while managing 15 rebounds on their own offensive glass. Combine that with 20 Golden State turnovers and you've got an easy Thunder win. Monta Ellis had 31, but on 28 shots. Stephen Curry had a nice 22 and four steals, hitting nine of his fourteen shots. Monta and Curry did turn the ball over nine and five times, respectively, though. Monta's 91 turnovers on the season is the most in the NBA, which should shock no one.

Spurs 101, Jazz 104: Those forks sticking out of the Spurs are getting all bloody. Somebody better wash them. 28/23/22 for Bonner/Duncan/Parker wasn't enough to keep up with Utah's 53% shooting despite a 31-15 free-throw disparity in favor of San Antonio. (Weirdly, the foul count was just 19 to 16.)