A healthy Kenyon Martin could key the Nuggets to a 1st Round Playoff win
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The Denver Nuggets slipped into the 4th seed in the NBA Playoffs with a Utah Jazz loss on Wednesday night. The same Suns that brutally knocked Denver out of contention for the 3rd seed on Tuesday night roughed up the Jazz by a similar margin in Salt Lake City.
Now the Nuggets will enjoy home-court advantage for at least this first round, and their middle seeding could easily lead to a 2nd Round matchup with the LA Lakers.
Denver dominated the season series versus Utah.
In fact, that’s the only reason the Nuggets have home-court in the 1st Round. Both teams finished with a 53-29 regular season record.  However, Denver’s key January win in Utah gave them the tiebreaker for the Northwest Division title and the 4th-best record in the Western Conference.
Utah escaped with a narrow victory in the teams’ final regular season matchup, as Denver played without Carmelo Anthony & Chauncey Billups.
Here’s how the season series played out between the Jazz & Nuggets
Wednesday, October 8th @ Denver
Denver Wins 114-105
Saturday, January 2nd @ Utah
Denver Wins 105-95
Sunday, January 17th @ Denver
Denver Wins 119-112
Saturday, February 6th @ Utah
Utah Wins 116-106
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As dominant as the Nuggets were throughout the regular season series, the Jazz improved mightily in the final month of the season. Carlos Boozer came on strong after struggling for Utah since late last season, and the Jazz bench began contributing in a real way for the first time in years.
The Nuggets, meanwhile, slid into their 4th seed with home & away losses to the Spurs & Sun respectively to close out their regular season schedule. Denver did blow out the Memphis Grizzlies between those two tough losses. But even after a 4-game winning streak that included a road win in Oklahoma City and a home win versus the Kobe-less LA Lakers, Denver has looked vulnerable going into the playoffs.
Nuggets Keys to the Series
Kenyon Martin returned to the team after undergoing rich blood platelet treatment on his injured knee. K-Mart opted not to have season-ending knee surgery, and will be the key to Denver’s NBA Title hopes. Kenyon was averaging over 9 rebounds per game before his injury, and his defensive presence stifled opponents’ low-post threats on most nights.
Martin is also the key to Denver Center Nene Hilario’s game, as Kenyon brings a certain snarl to the paint that Nene lacks. Nene has great talent for a big man, and his speedy spinning post move is unstoppable without a helper defender rotating in. The combination of Nene, Martin & Carmelo Anthony down low opens up the Nuggets’ entire offense as it contracts defenses down towards the paint.
If Denver can find its mid-season groove in this series, it will start down low.
However, the Nuggets will need its bench to contribute as heavily as they did during the season series versus the Jazz. Rookie reserve Point Guard Ty Lawson was especially dangerous in regular season Games 2 & 4, scoring 23 & 25 points in those games. Lawson is one of the fastest guards in the league, and could be a game-changer against Utah.
Finally, JR Smith will need to be contributing his athletic defense and timely 3’s for Denver to move forward. Smith is a rare talent, but has had trouble with consistency and discipline. JR was huge, though, in last year’s run to the Western Conference Finals. Smith outshone Nuggets star Carmelo Anthony in several of those playoff games.
Nuggets vs Jazz Series Notes
Nuggets head coach George Karl will miss this 1st Round series after undergoing chemotherapy for neck & throat cancer. His recovery time will determine whether he is capable of making a return to the Denver bench this postseason.
Karl will have a presence on the Denver bench in the form of his son Coby.
The younger Karl was signed by the Nuggets from his D-League team as Denver sought to shore up the depths of its bench. Coby Karl will not be getting a lot of time, if any, in the playoffs, but he is tall for a Shooting Guard and may be useful as a defensive asset and rebound specialist.
Former University of Wisconsin standout Brian Butch has joined the team for the same reason.
Nuggets vs Jazz 1st Round Playoff Series Schedule
Game One: Saturday, April 17th
Utah @ Denver 8:30pm MST
Game Two: Monday, April 19th
Utah @ Denver 8:30pm MST
Game Three: Friday, April 23rd
Denver @ Utah 8:30pm MST
Game Four: Sunday, April 25th
Denver @ Utah 7:30pm MST
Game Five: Wednesday, April 28th
Utah @ Denver if necessary
Game Six: Friday, April 30th
Denver @ Utah if necessary
Game Seven: Sunday, May 2nd
Utah @ Denver if necessary
My Prediction: Nuggets in Five Games
