Right now the Denver Nuggets are playing out of their mind and it's beautiful. The Nuggets, through the first ten playoff games have the highest point differential (+16) in NBA playoff history. They are the leading scoring team in the playoffs at 111.5 ppg. They are also shooting 42% from the 3 pt line which is also leads all playoff teams.
Obviously Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups are two huge keys for the Nuggets but they also have Dahntay Jones who is an outstanding defender. I had many battles with him in college as he played for Rutgers before transferring to Duke. Kobe Bryant faced Artest, but Jones is just as tough on the defensive end and maybe just as fiesty and quick tempered as Artest. Kenyon Martin is as tough and as physical as they come in this league. If he matches up with Pau Gasol or Lamar Odom he could cause some problems. Not sure if he has all his marbles though, which is bad off the court but sometimes good on. For some reason, Chris "Birdman" Anderson is becoming one of my favorite players. I love his energy and his don't give a hoot attitude. Nene has been the surprise here in the playoffs. He seems to have finally discovered that he can play the game. He'll be matched up with Andrew Bynum who seems a little tentative and hasn't been himself. That is not good for the Lakers.
But the one question I have about Denver is can they defend? I am not sure they can. I know they can score the basketball, but their uptempo style may be just what the Lakers need. The Lakers want to play a finesse style, come down get into the flow and run their triangle offense. If the nuggets want to win a physical brutal old-school New York Knicks style is what they need to imply to win this series. Ok, maybe not that brutal, because we know how soft the referees and the NBA is becoming calling flagrant fouls every other play, but they have to make it more physical than the Lakers are used to. I am sure it won't get as physical as it was back in the 90's. Now that was tough basketball.
I believe the playoffs are about peaking at the right time. I truly don't believe that the Lakers have played their best basketball yet. That may not be a bad thing. If the Lakers have better basketball in front of them that only spells doom for the Nuggets. What if Andrew Bynum starts to wake up? What if Derek Fisher starts to find his shooting touch? Let's not forget Kobe Bryant was only 4-12 in the last game. That's not exactly lighting it up for the Black Mamba. He may be due.
My prediction is that the Lakers will pull out Game 1, but stay tuned because I don't think that the Lakers will get both. This WILL be interesting.
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