Andre Gomes
DENVER NUGGETS -1.5
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Despite having a terrible spot, I like the Nuggets to get done the job tonight against the Kings, as basically we only really need them to win this contest outright. I understand that this will be their 3rd game in just 4 days and a back to back home-road game isn’t easy for any team. Plus, Chauncey Billups won’t play tonight and the last results of the Nuggets are showing that he is the key maker of this team. However for this contest I’m expecting Carmelo Anthony to explode and to carry his team down the stretch.
On their last game against the Mavericks, Carmelo was well defended and suffered constant double teams from the Mavs, while he also battled foul trouble the whole game. He ended up playing just 31 minutes and he lost his rhythm, as he shot only 5-19 from the field! For tonight, the Kings don’t have any defender capable of shut down Carmelo and I wouldn’t be surprised if he puts 40 points in the boxscore.
Besides that, their bench was dreadful. Chris Andersen, Anthony Carter and J.R. Smith combined to shot 7-for-24 (29.2 percent) for 20 points, while the bench from Dallas shot 18-for-35 for 49 points, so I also expect the Nuggets' second unit to play better tonight.
For the Kings rookie PG Tyreke Evans is doubtful for tonight and he is the catalyst of this team. I dare to say that Evans is what Billups represents for the Nuggets. The Kings have lost their last 2 games in overtime against the Lakers and the Cavs and Evans played 44 and 46 minutes in those games, while scoring 18 and 28 points. The Kings aren’t a good defensive team and in my opinion their approach regarding this game will be to outscore the Nuggets on a run and gun tempo game. However, with the Nuggets fired up, I don’t think that the Kings have the “army” to compete against the Nuggets in such kind of game and so, I’m taking Denver in here.
Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 709 Denver Nuggets (-1.5)[/FONT]