- Image by dherrera_96 via Flickr
With 8 games to go, the Nuggets will need a win tonight at the Mavericks and a strong finish to reacquire the 2nd seed in the Western Conference playoff field
Despite a losing effort in Orlando on Sunday, the Denver Nuggets clinched a playoff slot with 8 games to go. Memphis lost to Milwaukee in OT to set a basement for the Nuggets’ playoff seeding.
Now Denver will travel to Dallas for a showdown with the Mavericks.
The Nuggets need this game for a lot of reasons… namely the three teams surrounding them in the standings.
The Dallas Mavericks sit at 2nd in the West just a half game ahead of Denver with one less loss and a game in hand. Dallas has a cakewalk to the 2-seed with 4 of their remaining 9 games coming against non-playoff teams. Unless the Nuggets steal a game in Dallas tonight, they will be watching as the Mavs walk away with the home-court advantage.
The Utah Jazz are tied with the Nuggets at 48-26. Denver won the season series so Utah will need to win an extra between now and mid-April to take over the Northwest Division. Aside from a home game against the Knicks tonight and a home-and-away series versus the Golden State Warriors, the Jazz have a tough schedule to close out the season. If the Nuggets hold
The Phoenix Suns lurk a half game back from both Denver & Utah with one less win but a game in hand. The Suns have a difficult road stretch this week, all against Eastern Conference teams. If Phoenix can improve at all on their 7-game winning streak against poor-to-middling opponents (or just grab 2 of 4 through the end of the week) the Suns will control their own destiny to close out the season. They play 3 of their final 5 at home, and their final two are against Denver (home) and Utah (away).
Quite the recipe for a rapid rising of Phoenix in the standings.
Not only is an ascension likely for the Suns, they actually have the best chance of the four teams chasing the Lakers to pull off a miracle and steal the top seed from LA.
Denver, who bit at the heels of the Lakers for much of the season, is missing too much in the absence of Kenyon Martin. Aside from his stellar low-post defense, Martin was hauling in an average of 9.6 rebounds per game before his knee sent him to rehab. In recent games, the Nuggets have been missing those two elements very much. Even bad offensive rebounding teams like the Raptors & Knicks simply got too many second and third chances against the Nuggets without Kenyon to chase them out of the paint.
That brings us full circle: back to tonight’s game at Dallas.
There is no quick-fix for what ails the Nuggets. Without Kenyon Martin and the steadying influence of George Karl on the sidelines, they have looked (and played) like a middling playoff team of late.
Without the remaining Nuggets stepping up, most notably the bench players (we’re all looking at you JR), Denver will end up exactly that… a middling playoff team with an uphill climb back to the Conference Finals.
