The Spurs were the 3 seed and the Nuggets the 2, but Denver provides a much more stern test than the hobbled guys from River Walkville...

Let's start with scoring options: Tony Parker and Tim Duncan (on one leg) were all the Spurs had - the San Antonio bench was about as productive as my stock portfolio over the last 6 months. Contrast that with the Nugget's Carmelo Anthony, Chauncey Billups, as well as Nene Hilario and Kenyon Martin providing some inside scoring. Much different ballgame.

And then there are the role players. Much has been made about the Mavs role players stepping up, providing a lift and you'd think walking away from San Antonio brimming with confidence. Well, they're going to need it. In the regular season, Jason Terry led the Mavs bench to the highest scoring output in the league at just under 38 per game. The Nuggets aren't far behind, ranked third overall in the league. J.R. Smith leads that second unit and is a mad bomber from behind the arc, so don't expect him to miss all those wide open looks like Michael Finley, Bruce Bowen, and company. Again, its a different test completely.

The Mavs were able to put the clamps on just about everyone with the Spurs except for Tony Parker. It energized the team, and allowed them to answer Spur runs throughout the series. The Nuggets will come in waves - and the Mavs will have to avoid getting down on themselves when their defense doesn't look nearly as good as it did in the first round.

And you can add in the fact that the Nuggets are a much better club defensively since about mid-season, so I'm just saying... Let this serve as a heads up, don't expect the same sort of games you saw when the Mavs were able to shut down the Spurs at times.

Bring on Round 2!!!

2 Comments

Dominic said:

Mavs in 6. PERIOD. Denver will be over confidents Game 1 and this will be the game we take and the game that Denver will regret later.

April 30, 2009 11:02 AM

clint said:

Nuggets in five. I'm a mavericks fan. But the mavs went 0-4 aganist them this year.

April 30, 2009 5:33 PM

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