Brandon Lang
Sunday ...
10 Dime - NuggetsnThe Nuggets have found themselves at exactly the right time.
To dismantle the Hornets the way they did was impressive. Unlike the Lakers who let teams back in basketball games, this Nuggets team keeps making statements every single quarter of every single game.
Now unlike the Spurs who were old, tired, run down, no Ginobili and Tim Duncan is a Mercedes Benz on it's last leg before it becomes a taxi somewhere in the world, the Nuggets are young and fresh.
They also have a leader in Chauncey Billups.
All the numbers support the Nuggets here, covering 7 of the last 8 meetings overall and yes, most of those they were the dog and not the 6 point favorite they are today.
This Denver team is absolutely the right side of this game and you can force this Mavs team to show up on the road and beat a "real" opponent today.
Bottom line is the Mavs couldn't even shut down Tony Parker on a consistent basis so good luck with trying to stop an even better player in Billups.
Game one in this series is another statement game for the Nuggets. You saw the statement they made in game one against the Hornets and considering the fact they covered every single game in that series, that is good enough for me here.
The monkey is off the back of this Nuggets teams for all their playoff failures in years past and with that monkey gone, watch out because this really is a dangerous animal laying wait for the Lakers in the next round.
Nuggets by double digits today.
Free pick - Heat (See daily video for your analysis on this game)