The Nuggets are soaring into the playoffs as they are hot right now. They will need that to continue if they want to beat the suddenly very impressive Golden State Warriors in the first round of the playoffs starting this Saturday. Here is a look at the matchups in this series:
POINT GUARD: 25-year old Stephen Curry is the main man offensively for the Warriors. He played in 78 games (all starts) for the Warriors this year and he averaged 38.2 minutes, 22.9 points, 4.0 rebounds, 6.9 assists and 1.6 steals per game. Curry is a lights out long range shooter as he nailed 45.3% of this three point attempts in 2012-13.
25-year old Ty Lawson is also a solid point guard, as he is similar in playing style to Curry, despite being nowhere near the shooter he is. Lawson played in 73 games (71 starts) for the Nuggets this year and he averaged 34.4 minutes, 16.7 points, 2.7 rebounds, 6.9 assists and 1.5 steals per game. Lawson has played in 18 games (12 starts) so far in the playoffs in his NBA career and he is averaging 29.3 minutes, 14.3 points, 2.4 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.0 steal per game.
EDGE: WARRIORS
SHOOTING GUARD: 23-year old Klay Thompson picked up his game for the Warriors in 2012-13. He played in 82 games (all starts) for the Warriors this year and he averaged 35.8 minutes, 16.6 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.0 steal per game. Thompson is also a good long range shooter as he shot 40.1% from three point range last year. Like Curry, this will be Thompson’s first shot to play in the playoffs.
29-year old Andre Iguodala plays hard at both ends of the basketball court and he is one of the most unselfish players in the NBA. He played in 80 games (all starts) for the Nuggets this year and he averaged 34.7 minutes, 13.0 points, 5.3 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 1.7 steals per game. Iguodala has now played in 35 games (all starts) so far in the playoffs in his career and he is averaging 39.5 minutes, 13.8 points, 5.7 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.8 steals per game.
EDGE: EVEN
SMALL FORWARD: 20-year old Harrison Barnes had a decent rookie year for the Warriors. He played in 81 games (all starts) for the Warriors this year and he averaged 25.4 minutes, 9.2 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game. The Warriors will be glad if Barnes just plays good defense in this series, as they have other guys to score.
25-year old Wilson Chandler is a solid player when healthy (which he is right now). Chandler played in 43 games (8 starts) for the Nuggets this year and he averaged 25.1 minutes, 13.0 points, 5.1 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.0 steal per game. He has played in 5 games (2 starts) in the playoffs so far in his career and he is averaging 23.0 minutes, 4.8 points, 4.4 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game.
EDGE: SLIGHT FOR NUGGETS
POWER FORWARD: 29-year old David Lee is a machine at scoring and rebounding. He played in 79 games (all starts) for the Warriors this year and he averaged 36.8 minutes, 18.5 points, 11.2 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game. Lee will be making his first trip into the playoffs in this series and I think he’s going to step up.
23-year old Kenneth Faried comes into this season a little bit banged up, but he is a beast in the paint. He played in 80 games (all starts) for the Nuggets this year and he averaged 28.1 minutes, 11.5 points, 9.2 rebounds, 1.0 assist, 1.0 steal and 1.0 blocked shot. He has played in 7 games (all starts) in the playoffs so far in his career and he is averaging 27.4 minutes, 10.4 points, 10.0 rebounds, 0.6 assists and 1.1 blocked shots per game.
EDGE: SLIGHT FOR WARRIORS
CENTER: 28-year old Andrew Bogut’s ankle is still bothering him, so the Warriors are going to try to watch his minutes in this series. He played in 32 games (all starts) for the Warriors this year and he averaged 24.6 minutes, 5.8 points, 7.7 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.7 blocked shots per game. Bogut has played in 5 games (all starts) in the playoffs so far in his career and he is averaging 34.4 minutes, 8.6 points, 6.2 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game.
24-year old Kosta Koufos had a pretty solid year for the Nuggets. He played in 81 games (all starts) for the Nuggets this year and he averaged 22.4 minutes, 8.0 points, 6.9 rebounds, 0.4 assists and 1.3 blocked shots per game. Koufos has played in 13 games (2 starts) so far in the playoffs in his NBA career and he is averaging 4.5 minutes, 0.9 points and 1.5 rebounds per game.
EDGE: EVEN
BENCH: The Warriors have two of the best bench players in the entire NBA in 29-year old guard Jarrett Jack and 29-year old forward Carl Landry. Jack played in 79 games (4 starts) for the Warriors this year and he averaged 29.7 minutes, 12.9 points, 3.1 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game. He has played in 6 games (0 starts) so far in the playoffs in his NBA career and he is averaging 18.5 minutes, 5.8 points, 2.5 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game. Landry played in 81 games (2 starts) for the Warriors this year and he averaged 23.2 minutes, 10.8 points, 6.0 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game. He has played in 25 games (6 starts) in the playoffs so far in his career and he is averaging 22.4 minutes, 9.0 points, 4.4 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game. 23-year old rookie center Festus Ezeli is likely going to have to play a lot in this series due to the condition of Andrew Bogut’s ankle. He played in 78 games (41 starts) for the Warriors this year and he averaged 14.4 minutes, 2.4 points, 4.0 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game. 23-year old rookie small forward Draymond Green didn’t play well as a rookie for the Warriors this year. He played in 79 games (1 start) for the Warriors this year and he averaged 13.4 minutes, 2.9 points, 3.3 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game. Green only shot 32.7% from the floor and 20.9% from three point range this year. If the Warriors were smart, they would play 32-year old Richard Jefferson over Draymond Green in this series. Jefferson played in 56 games (1 start) for the Warriors this year and he averaged 10.1 minutes, 3.1 points, 1.5 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game. Jefferson has played in 94 games (71 starts) so far in the playoffs in his NBA career and he is averaging 33.9 minutes. 14.0 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game.
The Denver Nuggets also have a pretty talented bench. 37-year old PG/SG Andre Miller is still an excellent basketball player. He played in 82 games (11 starts) for the Nuggets this year and he averaged 26.2 minutes, 9.6 points, 2.9 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game. Miller has played in 46 games (39 starts) in the playoffs so far in his career and he is averaging 35.5 minutes, 15.7 points, 4.5 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 1.2 steals per game. 27-year old SG/SF Corey Brewer is also a pretty solid bench player for the Nuggets. He played in 82 games (2 starts) for the Nuggets this year and he averaged 24.4 minutes, 12.1 points, 2.9 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.4 steals per game. Brewer has played in 13 games (0 starts) in the playoffs so far in his NBA career and he is averaging 10.7 minutes, 5.2 points, 1.2 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game. 25-year old center JaVale McGee is one of the best backup centers in the NBA. He played in 79 games (0 starts) for the Nuggets this year and he averaged 18.1 minutes, 9.1 points, 4.8 rebounds, 0.3 assists and 2.0 blocked shots per game. McGee has played in 7 games (0 starts) in the playoffs so far in his career and he is averaging 25.9 minutes, 8.6 points, 9.6 rebounds, 0.7 assists and 3.1 blocked shots per game. 20-year old rookie shooting guard Evan Fournier has been playing well lately for the Nuggets. He played in 38 games (4 starts) for the Nuggets this year and he averaged 11.3 minutes, 5.3 points, 0.9 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game. 23-year old power forward Anthony Randolph and 26-year old center Timofey Mozgov could have bigger roles than usual for the Nuggets if Kenneth Faried’s P.T. is limited due to his ankle injury. Randolph played in 39 games (0 starts) for the Nuggets this year and he averaged 8.4 minutes, 3.7 points, 2.4 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game. Mozgov played in 41 games (1 start) for the Nuggets this year and he averaged 8.9 minutes, 2.6 points, 2.6 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game. He has played in 7 games (5 starts) in the playoffs so far in his NBA career and he is averaging 14.1 minutes, 4.0 points, 3.3 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game.
EDGE: NUGGETS
COACHES: 48-year old Mark Jackson really improved the Warriors in his second year in charge. The Warriors were only 23-43 (34.8%) in Jackson’s first year on the job, but they finished 47-35 (57.3%) this year. Jackson has yet to coach in the playoffs, so this will be new to him.
61-year old George Karl led the Nuggets to a very impressive 57-25 (69.5%) record this year. But, he is only 78-101 (43.6%) in the playoffs so far in his NBA career.
EDGE: SLIGHT FOR THE NUGGETS
PREDICTION: NUGGETS IN SEVEN GAMES