The Nuggets are coming off of a horrendous loss to the New Orleans Hornets and are looking to avenge themselves. Hopefully Ty Lawson will be back for this game so I dont have to see too much Andre Miller because if I do I might have to pull my hair out. The Nuggets one the last matchup, but got crushed when they played the Spurs in San Antonio. It is hard to count that game comparably since it was in November and the Nuggets were absolutely awful. The last time they played it was still December, but the Nuggets were starting to turn it on by then.
Tony Parker will face off against his NBA clone, Ty Lawson. They follow similar career paths and Parker had Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobli to play with. In the last matchup, Lawson had a terrible game. He had 12 points and 5 assists on 4-15 shooting. I expect him to play better assuming he is back from his injury for this game. Luckily Parker had an equally bad game. He had 13 points and 4 assists on 4-12 shooting. Expect both of these players to play much better in this matchup than the one before.
Iguodala had his type of game the last time these two teams met, he finished with 14 points 9 rebounds and 6 assists to go along with 2 steals and a block. His matchup, Danny Green, is good, but he his not who Iggy needs to worry about. Manu Ginobli will come off the bench and play good minutes. He played 30 minutes in the first matchup and finished with 16 points 6 rebounds 6 assists and 2 steals. He is active and Iggy needs to stay on him and play tight defense the whole time.
Gallo was the star of the show the last time these two met. He iced the game with a cold blooded 3 pointer and finished with 28 points, 9 rebounds and 2 steals. This was during his hot streak and he has since cooled down. However, he was the only offensive player to play well against the Hornets so maybe he has is mojo back. Kawhi Leonard did not play in the last matchup, but he can be a scary player. He defends well and has developed a nice 3 point shot. He also attacks the glass well. Gallo will need to be active and never lose sight of him or else that could spell trouble for Denver.
Kenneth Faried was shown up by Tim Duncan on the defensive end, but he had a superb offensive game. He finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds. When he plays like this the Nuggets are almost certainly going to win. They could use another game like this from him since he has a lot more energy than Tim Duncan at this point in their careers. Tim Duncan has a vintage Tim Duncan game. He had 31 points 18 rebounds 6 assists 2 steals and 5 blocks. He could not be stopped. I suggest the Nuggets put Koufos on him since he is a solid defender and rarely misses rotations.
Kosta Koufos did not have much of an offensive game in this matchup, but he dominated the boards as he finished with 14, 5 of them being offensive boards. Tiago Splitter would be his center matchup, but I would like Faried to stick on Splitter. Splitter had 10 points 4 boards and 3 steals in the last game, but he has shown signs that he has the ability to dominated so whoever guards him better be prepared.
The Spurs have a greta bench that starts with Manu Ginobli, but they also have Patty Mills who can is a good offensive player and Boris Diaw who has been a better player ever since San Antonio picked him up. Stephen Jackson also comes off of their bench and he could drop a lot of points at any time. This is a scary bench to matchup with, but the Nuggets have a good bench of their own. Corey Brewer has not played well the past 2 games, but in his last matchup against the Spurs he had 16 points and 4 rebounds. He needs to provide energy off of the bench and play good defense on the likes of Stephen Jackson in order for the Nuggets to pull this one out. Wilson Chandler was still out when these two teams met, but his shooting and defense will be needed off of the bench. Andre Miller had 8 points 7 assists and 5 boards the last time these two teams met, but im tired of watching his laziness so I wont comment any further. McGee only played 11 minutes in the first matchup, but he had 10 points and 3 blocks. He will have to play better defense if he wants to get more minutes.
This will be a tough one for the Nuggets in San Antonio, but they need to show resilience on the road in order to show they are a legit contender. If they get this win on the road, then people will start considering the fact that Denver could make it out of the west.
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