Johan Petro

Faith and effort pay off, and they did on Sunday night for the Denver Nuggets' Johan Petro.

Johan battling Portland's Andre Miller during Sunday's win (Getty Images).

Johan has kept himself game-ready, just waiting for an opportunity to make his presence known, making his first start of the season, he did just that. No. 27 finished Denver's 118-106 victory with a game-high (and season-high) 10 rebounds in only 23 minutes.

He added six points and two assists.

It was a night to take notice of, and people did, starting with the blog ProSportsColorado.com:

Petro started at center, played for seven minutes, didn’t take a single shot, grabbed five rebounds, and dished a single assist to Melo out of a double-team for a huge early dunk.

The Nuggets thrive on playmaking, and they are a team of versatile, athletic basketball players. That’s why Denver is virtually unstoppable when they find a groove.

The groove is contagious, and that’s why we saw Aaron Afflalo, Johan Petro and even Anthony Carter making plays throughout a 3rd Quarter where Portland fought tooth & nail to scrape their way back into the game.

Benjamin Hochman of the Denver Post gave Johan his props as well.

With Martin out, Karl rolled the dice Sunday, giving Johan Petro the start at power forward, and Petro didn't play poorly. He was all over the boards — his previous season high was six, but Sunday he snatched 10 in just 23 minutes.

"Johan was great. He played smart and made jumpers when we needed them," Nuggets guard Arron Afflalo said.

LOGGING MORE MINUTES

No. 27 has been getting more face time on the hardwood in the last few games. During Denver's 122-114 win over Indiana on Friday, Johan picked up three points and two rebounds in the three and a half minutes. Two days earlier against the Oklahoma City Thunder (a 119-90 rout), Johan picked up four points, a board, a steal and a block in 7:29.

RELATED STORIES
Petro, Andersen fuel Nuggets past Trailblazers (ProSportsColorado.com, March 8, 2010)
http://www.prosportscolorado.com/2010/03/08/1844-petro-andersen-fuel-nug...
Nuggets power past Blazers (DenverPost.com, March 8, 2010)
http://www.denverpost.com/nuggets/ci_14632803