| 23 March 2009
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(Denver-CO) The Denver Nuggets travel to the desert of Arizona tonight to take on the Phoenix Suns. The Nuggets are streaking as of late to the tune of a five-game winning streak, but all five of those victories have come against sub .500 teams. The Suns, pardon the pun, have been hot too. Phoenix has won four straight games since dropping six straight contests of which included four losses on the road.
The Phoenix Suns are currently on the outside looking into the playoff picture. They trail the Dallas Mavericks by three and a half games for the eighth and final spot into the postseason and over half of their remaining games are against current playoff bound foes. The Nuggets, who currently sit in fourth in the playoff landscape, are sitting a little bit prettier. Denver has twelve games remaining in the regular season and only five of those games are against teams with playoff positioning. Denver also has full game lead over the Portland Trailblazers for Northwest Division supremacy and a far more favorable schedule than Portland or Utah down the final stretch of the regular season.
In tonight’s game, the on one aspect in which has me the most concerned has to do with the biggest man on the court, Shaq O’Neal. The Nuggets have had trouble all year defending centers with true size and in the first match-up between these two teams Shaq got the best of the Denver frontline. Taken from December 21st recap, “The second thing that has really been highlighted in the last three games is Denver's inability to defend opposing centers of any true size. The Suns big tandem of Amar'e Stoudemire and Shaquille O'Neal, much like Yao Ming and Ilgauskas, both had great performances against the Nuggets. Amar'e double-double of 27 points, ten rebounds, two assists, and two blocks was more than Nene could handle and when combined with Shaq's 19 points and nine rebounds the Suns dominated the points in the paint as they combined to shoot 18-31 from the field. But in all fairness, Nene did have a good game consisting of 20 points and 15 rebounds.”
In the second match-up, Phoenix made a very bullish decision to “rest” the Big Diesel and the choice may have left them on the losing end of a, 119-113, defeat in overtime. Taken from that game’s recap, “Back and forth, the game tied again at 103 with under 1:30 to play after Kenyon Martin rebounded his own miss from the left baseline setting up J.R. Smith for three from the same corner. Both teams came up empty on their next possession, but an offensive rebound for Phoenix gave them the ability to ideally win the game or send it to over time with the shot clock off and 17.4 seconds remaining. Coming out of the timeout, Steve Nash deferred to Grant Hill for the final shot, but Hill lost control of the ball when Nene stepped up to help Dahntay Jones.
Overtime.
Denver struck first with Chauncey hitting a jumper and that set the tone for Mr. Big Shot to take over overtime as he scored five of the Nuggets first seven points and found Kenyon Martin for an acrobatic lay-up to put the Nuggets up by seven, 112-105, with under two minutes to play. Kenyon Martin then drove the dagger into the heart of the Suns with a cold-blooded three-pointer from the top of the arch! The huge three and “brass balls” celebration by Kenyon gave the Nuggets a six-point lead with under 30 seconds remaining and cemented the eventual, 119-113, Denver win.”
I expect Shaq to play tonight, but nevertheless, I expect the Nuggets to win as well. My reasoning is the Nuggets have a lot more on the line and this team has reacted favorably to pressure all season long.
Denver has the chance to finish the regular season with the second best overall record in the Western Conference. Winning the division is the most important aspect to keep in mind because it ensures home court advantage in the first round, but I ascertain the higher the Nuggets climb in the playoff seeding the better.
Go Nuggets!
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