The athletic JR Smith has been a key to the Nuggets' playoff push, and will need to be hot off the bench in the stretch if Denver hopes to be the West's 2nd best
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The Nuggets’ 98-94 edging of the driven Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday displayed the offensive dynamism and (occasional) sharp defensive rotation that Denver has been lacking for most the last two weeks.
After losing five of six games in ten days, the Nuggets had fallen back into the pack of teams chasing the #2 seed in the Western Conference. They got brutalized in Dallas, losing the season series versus the Mavericks after sweeping them out of the playoffs in ’09. New York, Orlando & Boston rounded out four ugly road losses in a five-game swing.
Then Denver came home, and as has happened so often in the last two seasons, rediscovered their mojo with some Pepsi Center magic.
This time it came against the Portland Trailblazers. A contentious first half blew up into a 109-92 victory by a Nuggets team that played looser on offense and tighter on defense over the final 15 minutes. Denver followed with a similar late-game thumping of the LA Clippers, fighting back from a 21-point first half deficit for an 8-point win.
Now a hard-fought win in Oklahoma City where JR Smith had a defensive breakout and the forgotten Arron Afflalo had his best game in a solid month. Afflalo was an incredible +17 in a 4-point win.  JR nabbed 4 steals and 2 blocks.
Kevin Durant was incredible a night after getting egregiously fouled on what would have been a game-winning 3-point OT winner at Utah… and then standing dumfounded as time expired with no foul call. (See: Carmelo Anthony five years ago)
And so Denver is back in a 3-way tie for the 2-seed with Dallas on top and Phoenix below. (Utah dropped one in Houston to descend to the middle of the playoff field.)
The Nuggets will finish their final week at home versus the Lakers, Spurs & Grizzlies before traveling to Phoenix to take on the Suns. Depending on how Dallas handles their easier schedule, the Nuggets may be in a one-on-one battle with the Suns right up to their regular season finale.
