@ Houston – protecting a 14 game win streak, hottest team in basketball playing at home, ultra motivated after losing Yao, will do anything to protect their playoff slot, have only lost 9 games at home, and none for a long time, 38-20.
Phoenix – fresh off the Shaq trade, desperate to prove it’s working, a team that has always had the Nuggets number, 39-19.
San Antonio – Second best team in the western conference, second hottest team to Houston, won their last 7, firing on all cylinders, 39-17
@ Utah – Playing excellent ball in the second half, 1.5 games ahead of the Nuggets for the division lead, they know it’s a huge game, have lost 3 games all year at home. 37-22.
@ San Antonio – see notes above, and have lost 5 games at home this year.
A murder’s row for Denver, this represents their next 5 games. If they play like they did against Chicago, the Bucks, or even the Clippers, they could easily lose all 5. The Houston and Utah games are huge, as they are against teams the Nuggets are directly battling for a playoff slot and so count double.
For the last three weeks the question has been “will the Nuggets make the playoffs?” Well, we’re about to find out. Go 1-4, and they’re pretty much done, barring a Utah or Houston collapse (and contrary to assumptions, Houston doesn’t seem to be grounded sans Yao. They’ll fall off a bit, but not completely. The Nuggets will have to win at a high clip to catch them.)
This is a biggest week and a half of the season. This is what we watch sports for. It’s do-or-die, or as Isiah used to say, “winning time.”
We all want to see how good this team can be. We find out right now.
Fasten your seatbelts, the ride’s about to begin…
Saturday, March 1, 2008
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