The green machine is rolling through Denver tomorrow night. The Celtics‘ fans always travel well and it’ll be up to the Nuggets faithful to give Denver some much needed home court advantage.
The particulars …
Records:
Denver: 36-19 (23-5 at home, 13-14 on the road) before cavs
Boston: 35-18 (15-9 at home, 20-9 on the road)
Denver current streak: Lost 1. They are 5-5 in their last 10 games.
Boston current streak: Won 3. They are 6-4 in their last 10 games.
Injuries:
Denver: Renaldo Balkman (mid-back strain) is out and his status is listed as indefinite. Chris Andersen (lower back strain) is listed as questionable for today’s game and his status is listed as day-to-day.
Boston: Tony Allen (strained tendon, right ankle) is listed as day-to-day.
Opposition's Take: Celtics Blog
The Celtics have one more stop on their four-game road trip before returning home and the Nuggets need to spoil what has been a very successful trip. On their current West coast swing the Celtics have victores over the Kings, Lakers and the Blazers. Check out Boston’s road record this season (20-9) … it’s nice.
The victory at the Rose Garden in Portland was an impressive one by the Celtics as they were coming in fresh of a thrilling one-point victory over the Lakers. Unlike the Nuggets, the Celtics handled business in Portland on the second of a back-to-back and they pulled out a convincing 96-76 win. But the Blazers haven't been their normal dominant selves at home where they are just 19-12 this season.
Boston's confidence will no doubt be high tomorrow and the Nuggets could use another big win over a top team. It's been pretty fun nit-picking at the Nuggets, who currently have the fifth best record in the NBA. At this time the Nuggets and Celtics have virtually the same records (see above) and this afternoon contest should be another good one.
Suddenly, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen have been rediscovering their games. Garnett has scored 9, 13 and 16 points in his previous three games and Allen has notched 15, 24 and 21 points. The Celtics have been taking abuse lately as being labeled “old” and it seems they might just be taking a page from the San Antonio Spurs (a la Tim Duncan‘s era) … coast through the first part of the season, keep pace in your conference and then turn it on come playoff time.
I expect the Nuggets to once again come out fired up for a big and nationally televised game. Coming off a big win against Cleveland and an embarrassing loss against the Wizards, the Nuggets have proved they will play their best against the top tier NBA teams, so tomorrow should be no different.
Get ready to see some Boston fans at the Pepsi Center (even if they've never been back East and are not sporting an accent) and get ready to see Denver play a great game.
As of this writing the Celtics are still unsure if trade deadline pickup and three-time dunk champ Nate Robinson will be in uniform or not.
Views you can use:
- In Birdman’s absence, Malik “Tacos” Allen played 22 minutes, scored 4 points and grabbed 4 rebounds (2 offensive).
- The Nuggets moved down to 7-3 when J.R. Smith shoots 3 three-pointers or less in a game.
- In Ty Lawson’s last three games he has scored a combined 12 points … it’s time for Lawson to have himself an offensive outburst.
ntimmons73@yahoo.com
Twitter: Nate_Timmons
Photo courtesy of AP Photos: Lori Shepler
