| 14 March 2009
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(Denver-CO) With the divisional race as tight as ever, the Nuggets need to start a win streak of their own just to keep pace. Denver is currently third overall in the Northwest Divisional race with the same amount of wins as both Utah and Portland, but the Nuggets have one more loss than both teams and need to keep winning while keeping their fingers crossed for some help from the rest of the league. Tonight's match-up with old friend, Marcus Camby and the 15-49 Clippers presents the perfect opportunity for the Nuggets to keep things headed in the right direction as the playoffs creep up on us.
The Nuggets have defeated the Clippers twice already this season. The first win came back on Halloween with Allen Iverson still on the team. The second triumph came after Thanksgiving, but that win didn't come as easy as the first or without making my heart skip a beat.
From my recap of the second game, "Clinging to the slimmest of margins, Denver ran off as much of the remaining clock as possible before an Anthony Carter three was put on rim and the carom was snared by our old friend Marcus Camby with just nine seconds to play. The Clippers didn't have anymore timeouts and the ball was quickly put in Baron Davis' hands for a chance to win the game. Davis drove towards the left wing before becoming completely blanketed defensively and dishing to a wide open Marcus Camby at the top of the three-point arch for L.A.'s buzzer beating chance.
With the ball slowly back spinning its way towards the rim I thought to myself, "Marcus Camby is going to hit this shot as some kind of payback for the Nuggets trading him for next to nothing", and to say I was ecstatic when the ball drew iron unkind would be an understatement. Had the attempt been from the top of the key, Marcus' favorite shot, who knows what might have happened, but the extra distance and the unexpected dish from Baron Davis left Marcus a little bit out of his comfort zone and the Nuggets, despite playing poorly for extended stretches, had managed to dodge a bullet and win, 106-105."
In tonight's game, the recipe for another Nuggets victory is simple. Pass the ball offensively, do not play passive defense, and the team play on both ends of the floor will follow. If everyone gets involved in the same fashion as we saw against OKC, the Nuggets will have no problem tonight against a Clipper team that has suffered all year long. Furthermore, the Clippers have lost eight out of their last ten games and are probably gearing down for the season. This aspect makes them a dangerous team right now. With the season ending soon enough, the Clippers (like any other team that has struggled to find success) are going to come out tonight and just have fun playing the game of basketball. If they get things going early and believe they might be able to play the spoiler believe me when I say that Marcus Camby would be the first to relish such an opportunity.
However, I'm not expecting this team to falter tonight. I think now that the sense of urgency is upon the Nuggets to perform they will do just that. This team coasted for long enough and now that their back is agaisnt the wall I'm actually excited to see how they will react. Long-time reader, and part-time antagonist, Talkb3 has always said, "Sports don't build character, they reveal it" and it is going to be very telling down the stretch as to just what kind of character this Nuggets team really has.
And I've got another quote for you, Nuggets Nation: "The only thing separating a chunk of coal and a diamond is a little bit of pressure."
Go Nuggets!
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