Post by CHANGEME on Sept 29, 2007 0:29:42 GMT -5
#3 VS #7
Previous Games:
Spurs 111 - Nuggets 101 - Duncan was unstoppable, Spurs shot 52%
Nuggets 121 - Spurs 103 - Carmelo unstoppable, Nuggets shot 54%
Nuggets 93 - Spurs 85 - Denver had 60-42 rebounding edge
Nuggets 120 - Spurs 108 - Duncan dominated, Melo was average, but the Denver role players killed the Spurs role players.
KEY STATS:
Points Per Game:
- 98.5 - 103.1Points Allowed Per Game:
- 94.4 - 97.8Rebounds Per Game:
- 50.2 - 53.7Field Goal Percentage:
- .444 - .451Opponents Field Goal Percentage:
- .437 - .430: Home Record - 29-12 --- Away Record - 21-20: Home Record - 29-12 --- Away Record - 16-25 Round 1 Notes:
: Game 1 - Spurs win 98-96. Duncan was amazing, Kobe wasn't, and the Lakers were still close. I guess Parker played extra well.Game 2 - Spurs lost 113-106. Kobe throttled them with 46 points. He woulda had 43 and a triple-double but he passed up a Chander dunk to put a 3-pt dagger in the Spurs down the stretch so he was 1 assist short. Duncan 42 in the loss.
Game 3 - 105-101 win - Spurs held Kobe to 39, Duncan only played 14 minutes and they nearly gave up the lead, but Manu was great.
Game 4 - 117-115 OT game of the series, Parker and Manu were great, but Kobe had blurry vision late, nearly passed out in the 4th and so the Spurs got lucky.
Game 5 - 100-78 breezer with Kobe out with severe migraines.
Looking forward:
Offensively, this team can get by against most teams. Duncan can score at will sometimes, and this team has some great FG% games sometimes. Can they score enough to slow down the Nuggets?
Defensively, they showed some weaknesses against a team with a star in their series with LA. Meet Carmelo. He has a better supporting cast, this one will be a huge test for the Spurs.
Round 1 Notes:
: Game 1 - Nuggets win 112-104 - Melo vs. TMac, they cancelled each other out and the rest of the Nuggets (INCLUDING AI, WOOHOO!) played better.Game 2 -Nuggets win 113-109 - Yao had a bad game.
Game 3 - 117-94 loss. AI had 41, but TMac, Yao, and Francis put up too many points to handle and Melo didn't play that well. 8-28 shooting
Game 4 - 114-105 loss - Yao and TMac were very good and the Nuggets didn't get enough from their secondary players.
Game 5 - 109-105 loss - same story as game 4, now on the ropes down 3-2
Game 6 - 107-74 - hello home court advantage, Rockets sucked balls, TMac only had 9 pts.
Game 6 - 110-100 - great 1st quarter, held on thanks to good games by Melo and AI.
Looking forward:
Offensively, they struggled a bit on the road. I think that Houston was a rough matchup for them. Denver is a great scoring team, and I actually think they'll be fine against San Antonio. They have some defensive stoppers, but not enough, quite frankly.
Defensively, they'll be fine. The Spurs will quickly find that they aren't the Lakers. They have the athleticism to stop a slow offense.
Key players:
The key player for the Spurs is Tony Parker. If he can be a force both scoring and dishing while Duncan is scoring 30 ppg, the Spurs can win this. I'm talking 20 points, 10-11 assists per game.
The key player for the Nuggets is Carmelo. I think the Spurs series against the Lakers showed that they can be beat with star power. Melo has to play like a star no matter who's defending him. Yes, the reason why the Lakers lost was a lack of support so the support is important. However, I think the support will be there in the Nuggets case, they are more established.
SERIES PREDICTION: Nuggets win 4 games to 2. The Nuggets will actually find the Spurs easier than the Rockets I think. They will struggle on the road, but still manage to win one. Melo and AI will carry them on to the West finals to face the Suns!
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