On Monday night, the Denver Nuggets recorded a solid 123-101 win against the Memphis Grizzlies in the team’s last game at the Pepsi Center this regular season. Tonight the Nuggets face a stiffer challenge on the road against the Phoenix Suns as both teams are looking to secure home court advantage in the first round of the NBA Western Conference Playoffs, which begin this Saturday.
With the win against the Grizzlies, the Nuggets (53-28) gained a half game lead over the Utah Jazz (52-28) for the Northwest Division lead–as well as the Suns (52-28) who are jockeying for a top four seed. With a win tonight the Nuggets will wrap up its second consecutive Northwest Division title and will firmly secure the third seed in the conference while the Suns will fall all the way to the fifth seed and lose home court in the first round of the playoffs.
The Nuggets need to close the season with the momentum of securing the division crown via a win tonight. The second seed in the west was claimed by the Dallas Mavericks with their win over the Los Angeles Clippers last night and it is important that the Nuggets still head into the playoffs with the confidence of a division champion and with the home crowd behind them starting Game 1.
However, winning tonight will be no small order as the Nuggets have dropped 10 straight games in Phoenix since April 2004. Phoenix has won 12 of its last 14 games and has won its last seven home games by an average of 17.9 points.
The Nuggets have corrected some of their recent flaws and have won five of its last six games. The return of Kenyon Martin to the lineup –after an 18 game absence–had the team playing back at its usual elite level last night and the team is once again rounding into form at just the right time.
Martin was able to rest much of the second half of last night’s contest and should be feeling fresh tonight–the first time he has played in back-to-back games since returning from his knee therapy–going against the Suns and Amare Stoudemire.
If Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups can find a way to control tonight’s game and if the Nuggets can establish Nene inside tonight’s game should be a thriller.
The Jazz will also face the Suns on Wednesday night in the two team’s regular season finale and, with back-to-back wins, the Suns could jump as high as the third seed in the conference.
All that should matter to the Nuggets, however, is a win tonight; then they can sit back and watch how things fall into place tomorrow night.
Of course, a Jazz loss tonight would also equal a division title for the Nuggets but, with the Jazz facing the lowly Golden State Warriors, Denver needs to take matters into its own hands and secure the division tonight to make the Jazz’s contest with the Suns tomorrow irrelevant.
Tonight’s Nuggets-Suns game is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. MDT and can be viewed nationally on TNT. Check with your local cable or satellite provider for channel listings.
WESTERN CONFERENCE STANDINGS
Team GB
1. y-Lakers –
2. y-Mavericks 2.5
3. x-Nuggets 3.5
4. x-Jazz 4.0
5. x-Suns 4.0
6. x-Trailblazers 6.5
7. x-Spurs 6.5
8. x-Thunder 7.5
