Brandon Lang
Tuesday ...
15 Dime - Denver Nuggets
Free pick - Over Hawks/Cavs (See daily video for your analysis on this game)
15 Dime Denver Nuggets - The only chance the Mavericks have in getting to this Denver team would be if they could thwart all efforts and immediately deflate the confidence of the home team. That being said, let me just tell you that won't happen.
Not tonight, and I'm not so sure later this week in Dallas. Denver is too good.
Some say the Nuggets are maturing as the games progress; I say the team is grown. Chauncey Billups arrived and the Nuggets look awfully good after five dominating postseason wins - four over the Hornets and in Game 1 against Dallas.
And the scary thing is, the team looks more confident with each blowout win. And after watching the Lakers lose outright last night, I wouldn't be surprised to see Denver feed off that and gain momentum. A win tonight would mean it's the best-performing team in the Western Conference. And quite frankly, I already think it is.
Focus guys: Denver hasn't lost a game at the Pepsi Center since March 11. Its average margin of victory this postseason is 22.5 points.
Dallas knows what it has to do, but I just don't think it can. Denver is playing tremendous basketball right now, and we're going to ride the Nuggets to another win in the second round.