really, you think that? I'm thinking the complete opposite. A Denver / Houston series will be the funnest one to watch in the first round. It will make national broadcast games, moreso than Hou/SAS. I'll bet money on that.
Actually, I do follow player updates, and Lawson is back on a limited basis, and I've stated that a few times already. Regardless, he had a torn planta, and the Nuggets are an up-tempo team. Not a good combination. They just beat a Spurs team without Parker, who will be back for the playoffs.
All Denver fans know Gallo is overrated. There is an argument to be made that they can be better without him, especially in the playoffs. As now, Chandler gets more minutes. Denver not only has the best home record, but they have the best record against Western Conf opponents, and they have the best record against the best in the West. And they are 20-2 over the last 22 games. We are better off playing Memphis or LAC or SAS, imo.
And they were without Lawson. And I thought that was a big point of yours, yet you give the Spurs a break for playing without Parker. And they beat the Spurs SOUNDLY in a slow tempo game. The Spurs cannot beat Denver.
HP they don't miss galo right now because chandler is playing well. But when Gallo is playing well the nuggets are a top tier team , the guy is un guardable with his huge wingspan and deadly range. The 3rd game vs Denver where we almost won we just couldn't stop the guy. We don't defend that well, but other teams can contain Wilson Chandler and Corey Brewer really well. They are playing on high energy right now, but they won't make it past the 2nd round with lawson, and won't make it past the 1st if Lawson is out.
Parker is their best player, you are seriously underrating him. Not only that he is the cornerstone besides Duncan in their offense. In the playoffs the Spurs will soundly defeat them.
Heard on The Big Show yesterday on 790 that the Rockets will put a waiver request to the NBA to have black out lifted on the playoff games on NBATV in Houston. It has to go through Stern of course, but due to the situation with CSN Houston that it almost guaranteed to be approved.
1. 18 on 37% 19% 8.5FTA 2. Get few practices in and adjust before series? 3. True. 4. Can we play at slower pace? Or is that going away from what we do? 5. Superstition?
You don't follow Denver, cleary. Lawson is not back yet. When he does come back he's coming off the bench and it will be interesting to see how he plays with the injury. Gallo is their 2nd leading scorer and best 3 point shooter. Their most skilled big man and a big reason why the Nuggets were so deep is because of Gallo. Overrated? Hardly. The Nuggets are 20-2 over the last 22 games but they were at full strength the majority of that stretch. The Nuggets beat the Spurs in their last matchup when they were playing at home and the Spurs were without Parker and Gino and starting some guy named Nando De Colo at point guard. But we all know 1 regular season game is the end all be all so lets just crown the Nuggets already.
He's been practicing all week and will play tonight. And Denver was without Lawson and Gallo. Funny how you say how big of a deal it is that they are not at full strength for the playoffs, but then you selectively make it sound like they were at full strength vs the Spurs, when they SOUNDLY beat them at a slow paced tempo while missing two starters.
Why shouldn't I? Parker will be in the playoffs at (or near) full strength. If Lawson plays in the playoffs, it should be in a limited capacity (at least in the first round).
Plantar Fascitis is a very painful/nagging injury. For a guy who relies on his speed and explosiveness it's going to be interesting to see how he does. I'm not the one that mentioned the last game. Don't get it twisted you're the one that made a big deal out of it. The Spurs were without Parker/Gino so of course the Nuggets should beat them even if they're missing Lawson and Gallo.
The only reason I want to play Denver is because I can go to a couple games. Otherwise, its a terrible matchup. I think the Rockets would be lucky to win more than 1 game in the series, especially if Lawson is healthy. I would much rather face San Antonio. I don't think there is any chance the Rockets beat OKC or Denver. There is a very small chance they could beat SA imo
I think the point here is that Gallo is not coming back and Lawson will be banged up. The Spurs are way too seasoned playoffs wise as well. They love giving teams the opposite impression in the reg season and just let it all loose in the playoffs. I like the nuggets though, outside of the rockets I will root for them.
Wrecks us offensively in the paint with ease? At 12 ppg? Seriously? Whose being dismissive now? If it were a healthy Rockets team vs a healthy Denver team, you'd be right. With an ineffective Harden, we'd be screwed. But this isn't a healthy Denver team. They're missing Gallo, and Lawson should be limited. You were talking about their home-court record. They attained the bulk of that record with Gallo playing ~32 mpg, not Chandler. With Chandler's minutes increasing due to Gallo's absence, you're incorrectly assuming that the Nuggets will be as dominant as they were before Gallo's injury. My argument had nothing to do with Harden's defense. My point was that if Iggy's offensive role increases (due to Gallo/Lawson), his defense could suffer. For analytical purposes, that's an irrelevant game. We were playing our 3rd game in 4 nights and missing Parsons. That won't be the case in the playoffs.
You should revisit the Spurs history over the last 4 years. It's actually the other way around. They have a great regular season then get summarily dismissed in the playoffs in extraordinary fashion. The reason I predict this happening again is because Duncan's season is overrated. People are saying this is one of his best ever. Well, considering the majority of his career was when the West had the best PFs in known recorded history of the NBA, he does not have much competition now. He beating lessor opponents than when they were winning championships. That said, there are two teams in the West with PFs who can slow down Duncan. One is OKC and the other is Denver. Duncan will be going against two of the best PF defenders in the league. Who cares what he did during the regular season vs a down era of PFs. Yeah, me too. My second favorite team. I love George Karl. I have had Planter Fascia before. I know it's painful, but Lawson is a warrior.
