After a Saturday night victory over the Warriors, the Nuggets stood one half-game in front of Golden State for the eighth and final Playoff spot in the NBA's ultra tough Western Conference.
Then, after not even playing on Sunday, they moved into seventh place. Pretty good, right? Well, that depends. What's better? Being all alone in eighth or in a three-way tie for seventh? Yes, Denver is currently sharing that seed with Dallas and Golden State.
Will they be able to hang on? Each morning the Nuggets play one of their remaining nine games, the blog will take a look at that night's contest, offer a little useful information on the contest, as well as give an often inaccurate prediction.......hey, I'm trying.
Monday, March 31 Nuggets At Suns
Outlook: Should be closer than the last meeting between these two. A 126-113 win on March 5 by the Nuggets was accomplished as Shaquille O'Neal was still adusting to playing for Phoenix. That game was played in Denver, where the Nuggets are 30-7 this season. On the road, they have a medicore 15-21 record. This season, at home, the Nuggets have defeated the Spurs, Celtics, Suns, Warriors, and Mavericks, to name a few. On the road, the number of big wins is considerably less. Tonight, would be a great night to prove they can become Western Conference road warriors as well.
Numbers: The Nuggets have won five in a row. Phoenix has won two straight and had won seven in a row earlier in the month. They are 12-8 since O'Neal came to town. On Saturday night, Suns forward Amare Stoudemire had 33 points and 15 rebounds in a win in New Jersey. He had 37 points and 15 reboundsin O'Neal's desert debut on February 20. Those two games marked the only times in O'Neal's career where a teammate had at least 30 points and at least 15 rebounds in a game. Never in Orlando with Penny Hardaway, never in Los Angeles with Kobe Bryant, and not once with Dwyane Wade in Miami. In other words, O'Neal grabs the attention, but others front line players are not ceding to his presence.
Prediction:The Suns set on Denver tonight. The winning streak ends at five. Though they could start a new one on Tuesday night when they play host to, yeah, the Suns.
-"z"
