| 2012/2013 NBA Regular Season: Game 72 | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
vs |  |
|
49-22 (17-19 on the road)
|
2-0 DEN | |
| March 25th, 2013 – 6:00 PM (MT) | ||
| New Orleans Arena |
||
| Altitude / 950 AM / 104.3 FM The Fan | ||
| Probable Starters | ||
| Ty Lawson | PG | Greivis Vasquez |
| Andre Iguodala | SG | Eric Gordon |
| Danilo Gallinari | SF | Al-Farouq Aminu |
| Kenneth Faried | PF | Anthony Davis |
| Kosta Koufos | C | Robin Lopez |
| Notes | ||
| Denver Stiffs | Blogs | At the Hive |
| Wilson Chandler and Ty Lawson are both probable tonight | Injuries | Jason Smith (torn right labrum) and Austin Rivers (fractured right hand) are both out |
| The Nuggets can get within a game of .500 on the road with a win tonight | Stat | Hornets have won two straight at home against the Celtics and Grizzlies |
Let's start things off with some good news for the Nuggets:
<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet” data-partner=”tweetdeck”><p><a href=”https://twitter.com/search/%23Nuggets”>#Nuggets</a> PG @<a href=”https://twitter.com/tylawson3″>tylawson3</a> & F @<a href=”https://twitter.com/wilsonchandler”>wilsonchandler</a> are practicing today and are listed as probable for Monday’s game at New Orleans.</p>— Denver Nuggets (@denvernuggets) <a href=”https://twitter.com/denvernuggets/status/315868055886520322″>March 24, 2013</a></blockquote>
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Having Lawson and Chandler back should give the Nuggets a much needed boost. Andre Miller, Julyan Stone, Evan Fournier, Corey Brewer, and Anthony Randolph all did nice work filling in stop-gap roles in their absence, but Lawson's speed and Chandler's play on both ends of the floor have been sorely missed. The Nuggets eked out wins against the 76ers and Kings to continue their impressive 15-game win streak.
(Seriously, who doesn't want to see more of Stone, Fournier, Randolph, and Jordan Hamilton? Such a deep team.)
Could the win streak be adding undue pressure on these Nuggets? Might it be best for the team to drop one eventually as to not believe too much in the hype the team is creating? Tasks for other days. The Nuggets can't afford to drop many/any games as they are in a serious playoff seeding battle for No. 3, No. 4, or No. 5 with the Clippers and Grizzlies.
Enter the Hornets. Winners of two straight at home against a couple of good teams in the Celtics and Grizzlies. In NOLA's 90-83 win over the Grizz, it was Robin Lopez leading the team with 23 points on 9-12 shooting – including 6 offensive rebounds (10 boards overall).
Some bad news for the Hornets:
<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet” data-partner=”tweetdeck”><p>Via the @<a href=”https://twitter.com/hornets”>hornets</a>, PG Greivis Vasquez is doubtful vs <a href=”https://twitter.com/search/%23Nuggets”>#Nuggets</a> tonight due to sprained left ankle.</p>— Denver Nuggets (@denvernuggets) <a href=”https://twitter.com/denvernuggets/status/316236256499613698″>March 25, 2013</a></blockquote>
In Vasquez's absence tonight – it should be 27 year-old Brian Roberts making the start. Roberts has been a hit-or-miss backup for the Bugs (last time I will get to call them the Bugs!) and has been playing well in the past two games. Against Boston, Roberts had 12 points and 3 assists in 18 minutes and 8 points and 3 assists in 23 minutes against Memphis.
Battle of the boards:
The Nuggets will need to do a tremendous job on the glass tonight. The Bugs have been rolling out the pesky Lou Amundson off the bench; along with Ryan Anderson. Combine those two with Anthony Davis, Al-Farouq Aminu, and Lopez and the Hornets were able to grab 16 offensive rebounds against the Grizzlies the other night.
Views you can use:
-In his last 10 games Davis is averaging 16.3 points and 10.6 rebounds. Faried will have his hands full with Davis as he's playing more like the Rookie of the Year candidate that lots of people thought he was and his comfort level in the League is growing.
-In his last 5 games Ryan Anderson is shooting 8-29 from three-point land, but with a 1-10 night against the Wizards really skewing things. Anderson is dangerous from deep – where he shoots 38.7% this season.
-Eric Gordon scored 18 points against the Celtics and 11 points against the Grizzlies. Iguodala needs to bottle up Gordon tonight – like Memphis was able to do.
Race for playoff seeding:
| Date | Thunder | Nuggets | Clippers | Grizzlies |
| Spurs lead West | 1.5 back | 4.5 back | 5 back | 5.5 back |
| 52-19 | 49-22 | 48-22 | 47-22 | |
| 25-Mar | Off today | vs Kings | Off today | at Wizards |
***
