By: Brandon Rivera
Many can make the argument that a team with last season’s MVP and front runner for this seasons title should be making a difference for his team in the first round of the playoffs, however; The Denver Nuggets don’t have the matching firepower to remain competitive with the trigger happy Golden State Warriors.
Over the weekend the first round of the NBA playoffs begin and the Denver Nuggets were in the Bay Area to face the Golden State Warriors, a team they had previously beat three of their last four meetings during the regular season. The postseason of course, is a whole new season with much different implications and the Warriors emphasized that by dominating the Nuggets in thier 123-107 win over Denver.
Game two was much of the same and with a much smaller starting lineup. The Warriors beat the Nuggets with speed and accuracy, practically running circles around Denver’s much larger lineup. Warriors forward, Draymond Green was in Nikola Jokic’s face making the league MVP work for his rebounds and points. The frustrations mounted and nearly halfway through the fourth court Nikola Jokic was ejected after protesting a non-call (foul) to the ref, which culminated in his second technical and his dismissal from the court.
Frustrations were at the forefront for the Nuggets all night as they desperately tried to win game two against a team they are clearly outmatched by. The reason of course is largely due to the injuries of both Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. Jamal Murray has now been out for more that an entire year, and was cleared to play in recent weeks, however; Murray has opted to remain on the bench for the remainder of the postseason to many fans’ dismay. Porter Jr. underwent back surgery in November and it was reported that he had suffered a minor setback in his rehab process, which puts his return to any upcoming games in doubt. The Nuggets lost game two 126-106.
It’s unfortunate that the Nuggets were able to make the postseason despite not having two of their top players only to likely lose in the first round due to a lack of firepower from the starting bunch now. There’s no doubt that the Nuggets could have used both Murray and Porter Jr. and the results of games one and two might have been much different.
Game three will be in Denver this Thursday night (8 p.m. MST) along with game four on Sunday afternoon (1:30 p.m. MST) and fans hope that this current Denver Nuggets roster can turn things around on the home-court.
In other sports the Colorado Avalanche are six games away from the end of the regular season. Their nine game winning streak was snapped after losing to the Washington Capitals at home on Monday night. The Capitals are no slacks, clinching their playoff berth in the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The Avalanche are on the road through this weekend with games in Seattle (vs. the Kraken at 8 p.m. Wednesday, April 20), Edmonton (vs. the Oilers at 7 p.m. Friday, April 22), and Winnipeg to face the Jets this Sunday at 5 p.m.
Colorado has a two point lead over the Florida Panthers for the Presidents Trophy and it looks like it’s come down to the wire between the top team in the West vs. the top team in the East.
The Colorado Rockies have now won seven of their first ten games with their most recent win over the Philadelphia Phillies at Coors Field on Monday night.
The Rockies have two games left with the Phillies before heading to Detroit to face the Tigers later on this week.
