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Spurs Nuggets Series Predictions

The San Antonio Spurs don’t seem to play with the urgency that they once did. Maybe that comes with winning several titles and being renowned as the best in the west for a number of years. They’ll face off against the number six seed Denver Nuggets in round one as they join the hunt for another title.

Denver made the bold move of bringing over a scorer, Allen Iverson, to join another scorer, Carmelo Anthony. In the past, this scenario has not panned out well. Iverson and Jerry Stackhouse parted ways a number of years ago when there wasn’t going to be enough shots to go around in Philly just to give you one example close to the heart of this situation. When this trade happened, I was expecting the AI/Mello tag team to be much more embraced. Instead, much of the sentiment was that it wouldn’t work out. If these two prolific scorers can get past the veteran Spurs in the first round, watch the media come around with adoration for this duo.

The Nuggets may have started winning at just the right time, too. They are 10-1 in the month of April and this team has plenty to prove having not won a playoff series since 1994. However, this mostly young Denver team is up against a veteran Spurs team which every lower seed in the West desperately wanted to avoid and the Spurs are used to dealing with first round teams who surge into the postseason with late runs. There was some talk of first round upsets in 2005 and 2006 when the Spurs sent home the also hot Nuggets and Kings.

As much as some new blood moving on in the playoffs would be nice to see, too many things will have to go in Denver’s favor for this to happen. Marcus Camby and Nene will have to avoid foul trouble and be scoring threats-not likely against Duncan. The young Carmelo will have to outshine Bruce Bowen’s and Manu Ginobli’s swarming and annoying defense. Iverson will have to deliver in the fourth the way he did in Philly’s nearly miracle season when they lost in the NBA Finals. And lastly, J.R. Smith and Linas Kleiza are going to have to step up and make jumpers when the Spurs take everything else away.

In my opinion, a first round triumph over San Antonio will be even more impressive than in 1994 when the Nuggets defeated the number one seed Seattle SuperSonics. George Karl remembers that series loss first hand and he’ll try to summon those spirits which led the Nuggets to a historical win to help him return the favor. Wishful, but more than not likely. The Spurs will coast into the second round. Probably in six games though, but to see which games go to who, and who covers then sign up for our NBA picks package.

Updated April 19th, 2007