(3) Denver Nuggets vs. (6) Golden State Warriors
Season Series: Nuggets 3-1
Before the season started and in more particular, three weeks ago, the Denver Nuggets were the sleeper team of the NBA, led by a top 5 coach of the league in George Karl and having the deepest team in the entire league.
The team then suffered key injuries with Danilo Gallinari tearing an ACL in his left knee, as well as Kenneth Faried obtaining an ankle injury earlier this week against the Blazers. Wilson Chandler and Evan Fournier have emerged as two players on the team to help Ty Lawson and Andre Iguodala carry the scoring load.
Even JaVale McGee has been playing like a starter, putting up nearly 20 and 10 in only twenty minutes of play every night. The team is lacking defensively top to bottom, but are strongly gifted offensively with Ty, Iggy and Andre Miller, who can close out games down the stretch. The Golden St. Warriors are the youngest team to make it to this year’s postseason, led by superstar guard Stephen Curry, who set the NBA record for most 3-pointers made with 270.
This year’s playoffs mean arguably the most the Golden State Warriors, who are essentially a big man away from becoming a legitimate threat in the NBA. With David Lee, Harrison Barnes and Klay Thompson helping Curry handle scoring load, the team already has chemistry and experience with each other during the season, but this year will be their first taking the court together.
The series essentially comes down to that last statement, which is why we’d take the Denver Nuggets to win the series in a maximum of 6 games. If Curry gets in his zone though, expect the unexpected.
Game 1 – Sat April 20, Golden State at Denver, 5:30 p.m., ESPN
Game 2 – Tue April 23, Golden State at Denver, 10:30 p.m., TNT
Game 3 – Fri April 26, Denver at Golden State, 10:30 p.m., ESPN2
Game 4 – Sun April 28, Denver at Golden State, 9:30 p.m., TNT
Game 5 * Tue April 30, Golden State at Denver, TBD, TBD
Game 6 * Thu May 2, Denver at Golden State, TBD, TBD
Game 7 * Sat May 4, Golden State at Denver, TBD, TNT