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Updated: July 16, 2004, 3:43 PM ET

Nikoloz Tskitishvili is finally playing the way the Nuggets envisioned when they made him the No. 5 pick in 2002.

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By Terry Brown
NBA Insider

Nikoloz Tskitishvili scored 27 points against the Celtics on 7-for-15 shooting with three triples, including 13 points in a tightly contested fourth quarter. He scored 26 points the next night against the Magic on 10-for-21 shooting with another three triples.

This is exactly what the Nuggets envisioned when they made the skinny Russian prodigy the No. 5 pick of the 2002 draft. They just didn't think that two years after the draft, he would be doing it in the month of July while participating in the Reebok Vegas Summer League.

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