Spurs at Nuggets Previews

[duncan228]

Updated, includes Kenyon Martin playing tonight.

San Antonio (48-31) at Denver (52-27)
Game info: 9:00 pm EDT Sat Apr 10, 2010
TV: NBATV, ALT
By Chris Altruda

The Denver Nuggets will undoubtedly be a tough out once the playoffs start. Their current defensive form could vault them into a le contender.

The Nuggets try to keep sole possession of the Northwest Division lead and extend their current winning streak to five games Saturday night when they host the San Antonio Spurs.

Only one game separates second-place Denver (52-27) from fifth in the Western Conference, which at the very least could be the difference between a division le and starting the postseason on the road. The Nuggets have a tenuous one-half game lead over Utah in the Northwest but have picked an opportune time to clamp down defensively and augment an offense that averages 106.6 points per game - good for second in the league.

Denver forced Oklahoma City to miss its final 13 shots in Wednesday’s 98-94 road victory, and star forward Carmelo Anthony made the key play without the ball in Thursday’s 98-96 win over the Lakers, blocking Derek Fisher’s potential game-tying jumper at the buzzer.

“Feels good to do something else, though, other than hitting a game-winner,” said Anthony, who scored 31 points. “That felt just as good as hitting the game-winner. It was a game-winner.”

When Anthony and the Nuggets focus defensively, they are hard to beat. They have limited opponents to 93.0 points per game on 42.1 percent shooting during their winning streak - well below their respective season marks of 102.1 points and 45.6 percent - and are 30-3 when holding foes under 100 points.

The Nuggets have to like their chances of delivering defensively with Kenyon Martin returning Saturday. The veteran forward will play against San Antonio after missing 18 games with patellar tendinitis in his left knee. Martin underwent platelet-rich plasma therapy March 8 and has been working out with the goal of returning before the playoffs start.

Denver can clinch its second straight division le with victories in this game and Monday at home against Memphis.

San Antonio (48-31) knows all about championship-caliber defense, the driving force of its four les since the start of the 1999 lockout-shortened season. The Spurs, though, are currently eighth in the West and need to win two of their final three games to avoid finishing with fewer than 50 wins in a full season for the first time since 1996-97.

They head to the Pepsi Center looking to avoid a third consecutive loss following a 107-99 home loss to the Grizzlies on Friday. Manu Ginobili scored 26 points hours after signing a $39 million extension, but San Antonio allowed Memphis to shoot 49 percent from the field and amass a 48-39 edge in rebounds.

“We are in a great fight with Portland and Oklahoma City,” Ginobili said. “We let this one get away. We should have won and at least taken a one-game advantage.”

The loss dropped the Spurs into eighth in the West, which would relegate them to a first-round series with the top-seeded and reigning NBA champion Lakers. San Antonio could finish as high as fifth by winning its final three games depending on how its tiebreakers against Oklahoma City, Portland and Phoenix play out.

The Argentine guard, though, continued his torrid scoring run. He has averaged 25.8 points his last 12 games, well above his season average of 15.5 points, while shooting 47.4 percent. Ginobili has scored 14.3 points per game versus Denver this season, but has been limited to 32.3 percent (10 for 31) shooting in those games.

The Nuggets won both games at San Antonio, but the Spurs shot 53.2 percent and had seven players reach double figures in a 111-92 victory Feb. 11 at Denver in the most recent meeting.

*********************

Team Stat Leaders

Points
Tim Duncan SA 17.9
Carmelo Anthony Den 28.4

Rebounds
Tim Duncan SA 10.2
Kenyon Martin Den 9.6

Assists
Tony Parker SA 5.6
Chauncey Billups Den 5.7

[duncan228]

Kenyon Martin not ruling out Saturday
By Benjamin Hochman
Denver Post

Kenyon Martin is “impatiently waiting” to make a return to the court, and the Nuggets forward said “the last three games are a possibility,” in reference to Saturday against the Spurs, then Monday against the Grizzlies and Tuesday at the Suns.

“I just finished working out today, I’m going to work out Friday and if there’s any pain, then no (on playing),” said Martin, who is battling a left knee injury. “But as of right now, I don’t have any pain.”

Martin has been going close to full speed in workouts, notably against assistant coach Jamahl Mosley. The key, Martin said, is battling fatigue.

“I need to get some wind in these lungs,” he said, “especially playing on this court (in the al ude) – it isn’t the easiest place to play. I definitely need to get some type of basketball in (before the playoffs).”

Martin admitted that “he’s got to be conservative,” but he is confident that he can play sooner than later. He has said over and over that he wants to return to game action before the playoffs, because the playoff games are generally more intense than the regular season.

Martin underwent PRP therapy on March 8, which is a revolutionary treatment that takes platelets from another part of the body and are put into the injured part, in efforts to have the body heal itself. It seems unlikely that Martin will need another treatment.

For the season, K-Mart averages 11.8 points and 9.6 boards. More importantly, he’s the quarterback of Denver’s defense.

Martin said he is giddy about putting on the uniform again. He has missed 17-straight games.

“I put it on for the team picture,” Martin said, “and I almost teared up a little bit.”

*********************

Kenyon Martin: Kenyon upgraded to a GTD for Saturday

Kenyon Martin (knee) has been upgraded to a game-time decision for Saturday's game against the Spurs.

Martin has missed the Nuggets' last 18 games, but he finally sounds close to a return. He's obviously not a fantasy option with just three games left on the schedule, but the Nuggets desperately need his defensive presence if they are going to get over the hump in the playoffs. We'd expect very limited minutes if K-Mart does play Saturday.

Source: Nuggets on Twitter

[shelshor]

Referee Assignments
Sat. Apr 10
San Antonio @ Denver: Eddie F. Rush; Tony Brothers; Haywoode Workman

[Spurs Brazil]

This is a key game. We need a win to still have a chance for 6th place, if we lose we'll be 8th

And for a key game I don't like to see Eddie F. Rush. DAMN

[bigbendbruisebrother]

Any chance Hill plays?

[gospursgojas]

This is a key game. We need a win to still have a chance for 6th place, if we lose we'll be 8th

[ManuTastic]

Love how the first guy makes sure to mention the '99 season was "lockout-shortened." Does he get paid by the word or something?

[Spurs Brazil]

Any chance Hill plays?

no chance

[duncan228]

Kenyon Martin to return to Nuggets lineup vs Spurs

Denver Nuggets forward Kenyon Martin will play against San Antonio after missing 18 games with patellar tendinitis in his left knee.

Nuggets acting head coach Adrian Dantley announced Martin’s status on Saturday ahead of Denver’s night game against the Spurs.

Martin underwent platelet-rich plasma therapy March 8 and has been working out with the goal of returning before the playoffs start.

He is averaging 11.8 points and 9.6 rebounds in 55 games this year.

[duncan228]

Nuggets host Spurs in key Western Conference matchup

The Denver Nuggets hope to inch closer to a Northwest Division le and the second seed in the Western Conference tonight when they welcome the playoff-bound San Antonio Spurs to the Rocky Mountains.

The Nuggets are coming off a very big win over the West's top team, the Los Angeles Lakers, on Thursday. Carmelo Anthony scored 31 points and came up with a blocked shot on the game's final play in that one, as Denver held on for a 98-96 win over the short-handed Lakers.

Los Angeles played without Kobe Bryant (swollen right knee) and Andrew Bynum (strained left Achilles' tendon).

J.R. Smith had 26 points for the Nuggets, who are deadlocked with Dallas for second place in the West with just three games left in the regular season.

Chauncey Billups totaled 12 points and Nene added 11 for Denver, which has won four in a row since dropping five of six. The latest push has the Nuggets on top of the Northwest, one-half game ahead of Utah.

After tonight's game, the Nuggets will finish the regular season with a home game against Memphis and a road contest against the Phoenix Suns, who are also a game behind Denver in the jumbled West standings.

San Antonio's playoff position took a blow last night against Memphis when Zach Randolph netted 28 points with 15 rebounds as the Grizzlies held off the Spurs, 107-99, at the AT&T Center.

Manu Ginobili, who inked a new multi-year contract on Friday, scored 26 points with eight boards and converted on 11-of-11 from the free throw line to lead the Spurs, who dropped their second straight. The Spurs are now tied with Portland for seventh in the West, one game south of Oklahoma City.

Tim Duncan got the Spurs within one at 100-99 with 2 1/2 minutes left, but Conley's running jumper and a Darrell Arthur mid-range jumper put Memphis ahead by five, 104-99, which ultimately sealed the win.

"Losing the game tonight is very disappointing," Ginobili told NBA.com. "It was a game we were counting on to win. But we took a break in the second quarter, and then it was a game."

[duncan228]

Game 80 Preview & Thread: Spurs at Nuggets
by Andrew Feinstein
Denver Stiffs

Long one of the NBA's most consistent teams, the Spurs have played more erratically than our Nuggets this season. This makes them a scary matchup tonight.

The last 12 games played by the Spurs has been a microcosm of their bizarre 2009-10 campaign, a season that many - including yours truly - thought they'd end up fighting for the 1st-seed alongside the Lakers. Over the last 12 games, the Spurs have won seven, including impressive victories at Oklahoma City, Boston and at Los Angeles against the Lakers. Additionally, the Spurs beat the East's two best teams - Cleveland and Orlando - handily at home. And yet among those five losses in the same span the Spurs were bested by New Jersey (not a typo) on the road, the Lakers at home and, last night, by the Grizzlies at home.

And thus, what could or should have been a run at their fifth championship in 12 years, the once mighty Spurs instead find themselves fighting with Portland and Oklahoma City to avoid drawing the Lakers in the playoffs first round.

Regardless of the Spurs predicament, and the fact that they'll be coming into Denver on the second of a back-to-back, this team still scares the crap out of me as a Nuggets fan. Earlier in the season, the Nuggets won impressively twice at San Antonio, the second time without Carmelo Anthony even suiting up. And yet in February the Spurs were able to come into Denver on the fifth game of a five-game, pre-All-Star break road trip and wipe the Nuggets off the floor easily. Simply put, this Alamo team doesn't make any sense whatsoever.

But while the Spurs are stumbling yet again towards the finish line, the Nuggets have gotten suddenly hot (albeit doing it as ugly as possible). Our Nuggets have won four straight, including a tough win at OKC on Wednesday followed by the back-to-back home win over the Kobe-less Lakers on Thursday. Given how the Nuggets played for much of that OKC game and that they need a last-second shot block by Melo to best the thinned out Lakers, I don't think any of us are enamored with how the Nuggets are playing. But wins are wins, and the Nuggets have tee'd themselves up to run the tables for the remainder of the season and secure the Western Conference's two-seed.

It's hard to use terms like "no excuses" when facing the likes of the Spurs - a team that can win at the Staples Center and the TD Banknorth Garden within the same week. But given that the Spurs are inconsistent, have lost two straight and got into Denver early this morning, at the very least we could argue that the Nuggets have "no excuse" not to lose.

Oh, and Kenyon Martin - depending on who you ask - might be playing tonight and this couldn't happen soon enough. The Nuggets need at least two (and I'd argue three) regular season games to work K-Mart back into the lineup before the playoffs begin. All of Nuggets Nation is collectively hoping that K-Mart's re-acclimation process begins tonight.

SCOUTING THE SPURS...

Spurs Stiffs

-Richard Jefferson: In the offseason, the Spurs went all-in to try securing one more NBA championship while Tim Duncan still has it, and that included the acquisition of the expensive yet previously effective Jefferson. Unfortunately for San Antonio (and fortunately for everyone else in the Western Conference), RJ started laying eggs from Day One in a Spurs uniform. That said, RJ has played better lately and is always a concern for opponents.

-Matt Bonner: For what he is - a 6'10" pasty white red head who operates from the outside of the three-point arc only - Bonner is a very successful NBA player. All those characteristics also make him a bona fide Stiff.

Spurs Non-Stiffs

-Manu Ginobili: Nuggets fans hate Manu, but I've never been able to. It's hard to hate a guy that's been a champion on every level and, when healthy, is arguably the third-best shooting guard in the NBA behind Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade. With the exception of two recent clunker performances against the Kings and Suns, Manu has been on fire, including a 43-point game against the Magic and a 32-point outing against the Lakers last week.

-Tim Duncan: Soon approaching his 34th birthday, Duncan may finally be showing the wear and tear of a career that's never missed a playoff appearance and has never participated on a non-50 win team (except during the lockout shortened 1998-99 campaign). He's still rebounding well, but his scoring has dipped substantially over the past 15 or so games.

Opposition's Take: Pounding the Rock

[doobs]

I feel very confident about this game, for some reason.

Spurs win!

[Chico]

Says NBATV but my guide says Mavs Kings..wtf