Johan Petro

Coming out of the locker room trailing the lottery-bound Los Angeles Clippers by eight points on Saturday night, the Denver Nuggets needed a spark.

Center Johan Petro was happy to oblige.

Johan poured in 12 third quarter points as the Nuggets surged ahead on the way to a 98-90 victory, their second straight win after dropping four of five.

"I got hot," Petro said. "The guys did a great job finding me. We know how important the last few games are going to be for us, so it's all about going hard performing, and trying to get the W's. We don't want to lose any more nights."

Johan entered the third quarter with just two points to his register on a first quarter finger roll. But the Nuggets began to establish his presence inside early in the third and No. 27 went to work on the Clippers interior defense.

JP and Carmelo Anthony combined to go on a 12-6 run to start the third and pull Denver back to within two points. Johan registered a layup and two offensive rebounds that he turned into points, one on a tip-in off a Chauncey Billups miss and one on a putback of his own miss.

After four straight free throws from Nene tied the game at 63, the Nuggets took possession with a chance to take the lead. Carmelo posted up near the free throw line, drawing three defenders and leaving Johan open in the paint. Melo dumped a pass inside to JP who finished with a rim-rattling slam to give Denver a 65-63 lead.

Watch the connection between Billups and Johan that led to No. 27's first points of the second half as well as JP's tie-breaking dunk in the NBA TV game highlights below.

LA followed the dunk with buckets by Eric Gordon and Travis Outlaw to retake the lead. But Johan knocked down back-to-back jumpers in a 39-second span off assists from Ty Lawson and JR Smith to give Denver a 69-67 lead. The Nuggets never trailed again.

In all, JP finished with 14 points on 7 of 10 from the field, five boards and a steal in 22:48. His night drew kudos from Rich Kurtzman of the Nuggets Bleacher Report:

"Backup turned starter Johan Petro had a breakout performance in the third, scoring 12 points and grabbing four rebounds as well. Petro was extremely active and helped the Nuggets to a win while big man Chris Andersen nursed his recently injured sprained ankle."

It marked the seventh time in nine games this year that Denver has won when Johan hit the 20+ minute mark. JP has also shot 70 percent or better in three of the nine games he's played more than 20 minutes, all of which were victories. The 10 shots he registered on Saturday were a season high.

A PEP TALK
As Johan sat on the bench in the second quarter of Saturday's game, once again inhibited by foul trouble, a teammate offered some words of motivation that spoke volumes to No. 27.

As Benjamin Hochman of the Denver Post wrote, it was Denver forward Joey Graham who was doing the talking:

"I told him on the bench, 'You help us out a lot more out there than you do here,' " Graham recalled. " 'You pick up these fouls in the first, we don't have anybody else — Bird's injured, and Nene's got to cover their other big guys. We don't have the height. You got to stay out there and work. Forget the fouls, just go out there and play hard and contest the shot.'

"He came out in the second half and did exactly that."

Hochman notes that given the lack of depth the Nuggets currently have in the middle, its of the utmost important for JP to be smart with his fouls.

"Yes, in the course of a game, it's a shrewd strategy to "waste" a hard foul here and there, which can either prevent an opponent's otherwise easy basket — or show an opponent you're unafraid to mix it up (as Martin famously did in the playoffs last season, when he WWE'd Dirk Nowitzki to the hardwood).

But Petro doesn't have that luxury, at least in the first half, because he's seemingly automatically due for an eye-rolling foul or two.

He must find that fine line between cautious and throwing caution to the wind. This is because, as seen in Saturday's third quarter, Petro has the ability to make an occasional offensive impact."

JOHAN GOES GREEN
This week, JP, his teammates and the rest of the NBA go green.

The NBA is celebrating green week through April 9 and Johan helped out this week by helping Nuggets mascot Rocky and teammate Renaldo Balkman plant an Oak Tree at the Pepsi Center as pictured in this photo, courtesy of the Mother Nature Network.

As the MNN explains:

"Through April 9, players will wear uniforms made from recycled materials and teams will hold auctions and eco-friendly community events as part of “NBA Green Week.” A green section of NBA.com will have “greening” tips for fans, and interviews with players who describe the importance of environmental awareness."

NEXT UP
No. 27 and his Nuggets teammates will don their "green" on Wednesday night when they hit Oklahoma City to take on the upstart Thunder. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. Mountain Time and the game can be seen on Altitude2.

RELATED STORIES
A green game of basketball (Mother Nature Network, April 2, 2010)
http://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/outdoor-activities/stories/a-green-game-of-...
Clippers see lead, game slip away (Press Telegram, April 3, 2010)
http://www.presstelegram.com/sports/ci_14817306
Nuggets of Info (Bleacher Report, April 4, 2010)
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Hochman: Nuggets' Petro must play hard without getting into foul trouble (Denver Post, April 4, 2010)
http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_14820458#ixzz0kFDQEolC
Los Angeles Clippers vs. Denver Nuggets Play by Play (NBA.com, April 3, 2010)
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