April 8 was a pivotal date in the Western Conference playoff picture, as the second, fifth, and eight seeds won, and the third, sixth, and seventh seeds all lost.
The Denver Nuggets took care of business, as they beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 122-112 in Denver. They extended their winning streak to eight games and the Nuggets have yet to lose a game against a sub-.500 team at the Pepsi Center all year.
Portland won in San Antonio for the first time in seven years, 93-85, to strengthen the Nuggets' lead over the two position even further. The win means the Trailblazers are still within touching distance of winning the Northwest division, if they win their remaining four, including the final game of the season in Denver.
The fifth seeded New Orleans Hornets lost by five to a down-and-out of the playoffs Phoenix Suns squad.
In the game that effects Denver the most, as long as they hold on to the second seed, Dallas blew out Utah 130-101 at home, and made a statement about where they want to finish the season.
No one at this point wants to play the LA Lakers, especially in the first round, and Dallas is quickly maneuvering out of the dreaded eighth spot, and into seventh.
Currently, the Denver Nuggets maintain a two and a half game lead over the Spurs, Trailblazers, and Rockets, who are all now tied at 50-28.
Denver also retains the No. 2 seed as of Wednesday night. If they can hold onto the seed it means home court, and they will face the No. 7 seed, which as of right now, is the Utah Jazz.
However, the Jazz have lost four of five, including the vital loss tonight against Dallas, while the Mavs have been warming up, winning four of five. Dallas are now tied with Utah in the race for a first round matchup with the the Nuggets in Denver.
While the Jazz still have the tie breaker, the teams could switch places quite easily, and a battle to see which city is really the "Big D" would ensue.
The matchup between Denver and Dallas during the 2008-09 season seems lopsided. The Nuggets won the season series 4-0, but when one looks closer, the Nuggets only won by an average of four points a game.
Denver though, are more talented overall, and are a more clutch team when the game is on the line, as the close wins indicate.
The matchups in this would-be series are not as flashy as say, Utah, or even New Orleans, but Dallas could still give Denver fits if they are destined to meet.
Matchups
The first thing that is evident when glancing at this series, is that both squads have a super star player, that leads in scoring, but is relatively quiet in other areas.
Carmelo Anthony of the Denver Nuggets is definitely their star player, as the ball goes through him in almost every half-court offensive set, and he can really light up the score board when he is hot.
While his points per game numbers are down, at 22.9, his rebounding has improved to almost seven a game, and his passing is much improved at 3.3 assists a night.
'Melo though, is best when he's scoring. He is as comfortable with the ball on the wings, around the three-point line, jab-stepping and making defenders guess whether he will drive or shoot, as he is in the low block spinning off defenders for a turn-around fade-away jumper.
Dirk Nowitzki of the Mavericks is a similar player to Anthony, shooting efficiently, especially on the turn-around jumpers, which is made possible due to their height. He averages 25.6 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game.
Dirk loves getting the ball around the free throw line and performing his patented traveling fading shot, and is deadly when it's dropping. When it is, look for Nowitzki to be hitting his three-pointers as well, as he can kill teams just as easily as 'Melo, almost single-handedly.
Likewise, both players are liabilities on defense. Carmelo made Dirk look silly in their recent game together, dribbling around Nowitzki easily only to pull up for a 15-foot jumper.
Neither really play against one another though, as both teams match up better defenders against the capable scorers. Dirk will be playing against great swiping Kenyon Martin defense, and 'Melo will be playing against Josh Howard.
Advantage: Carmelo Anthony.
Even though Dirk's season numbers are slightly better, 'Melo has been lighting it up lately, so I give him the slight edge if this series takes place.
We're going to send you the most entertaining Denver Nuggets articles, videos, and podcasts from around the web.
9 Comments
Loading more comments...
This comment and all replies have been deleted This comment has been deleted Undo delete