A couple of big games tonight that directly impact the Jazz. I figured I throw up a thread here so that you can discuss the games going on.
San Antonio Spurs @ Denver Nuggets
The Nuggets have three games left with two of those at home against the Spurs and Memphis. They need to lose one of them for the Jazz to have a chance when Denver heads to Phoenix next week.
The Nuggets have beaten the Spurs twice this season with both of those wins coming in San Antonio. However, they have lost to the Spurs at home.
I'm not expecting the Nuggets to lose this one but it's not out of the realm of possibility.
A preview from the Denver Stiffs,
But while the Spurs are stumbling yet again towards the finish line, the Nuggets have gotten suddenly hot (albeit doing it as ugly as possible). Our Nuggets have won four straight, including a tough win at OKC on Wednesday followed by the back-to-back home win over the Kobe-less Lakers on Thursday. Given how the Nuggets played for much of that OKC game and that they need a last-second shot block by Melo to best the thinned out Lakers, I don't think any of us are enamored with how the Nuggets are playing. But wins are wins, and the Nuggets have tee'd themselves up to run the tables for the remainder of the season and secure the Western Conference's two-seed.
And from Pounding the Rock
- Defense - Denver's been better than us at scoring points all season long. If we can't get stops, we lose... it's really that simple. But simple and easy are two different things - The Nuggets get to the line more than any team in the league, and this means that our young guys are going to have to be smart about their decisions on the defensive end.
- Ball and Player Movement - The Spurs are a much better team when they confuse the hell out of opposing defenses. The two-man game isn't the kind of movement I'm talking about here... I'm talking multiple cutters, misdirection and crazy double screens. Make them work on the defensive end, and stopping them will be a bit easier.
Dallas Mavericks @ Sacramento Kings
Dallas has already clinched the Southwest division so that means that the Jazz have to either finish ahead of them in the standings or win the NW division and tie the Mavs.
The Kings have fallen to the Mavericks all three times they've faced them this season. Sacramento had lost eight in a row until picking up a win over the Clippers on Thursday. They started out the season have-decent but have fallen to the team that most thought they would be to begin the season.
A word from Mavs Moneyball,
Crickets....
Moving right along. Let's hear from SacTown Royalty,
Andres Nocioni vs. Caron Butler. Butler used to shred John Salmons with his speed. Chapu is big and strong, but he's certainly not quicker than Salmons, and hence, les problems. Also, Nocioni may be summoned to meet Dirk's eyes in a small line-up, which would leave the frontcourt susceptible to Brendan Haywood Brand Domination, or at least a couple guards running unchecked to the rim. (This is all to say that matchups be damned, I want to see Landry-Thompson together most of the game.)
So any extra mojo you can throw the necessary teams tonight, it would be appreciated.