Monday, February 4, 2008

Nuggets vs. Blazers: Game 47 Preview

(Boulder-CO) There is no statistical breakdown needed for tonight’s game. If Denver wins, they will maintain their second place seeding in the divisional race with a chance to overthrow Utah for first place in the Northwest on Wednesday night. If Denver loses, they will fall into a tie for second place with the Trailblazers and loss their current momentum going into Wednesday’s match-up with the Jazz. If that isn’t enough to get the Nuggets fired up at this point in the season nothing will.

The Blazers are a tough team. They have already beaten the Nuggets twice in the three meetings this season so Denver needs to win to keep the series even in the event that there is a tie at the end of the year. Plus, the game is in Portland where the Nuggets will attempt to be only the sixth team to come into Oregon and leave with a victory.

Carmelo says the ankle didn’t bother him at all against the Bobcats as he recorded his 12th double-double of the season, but it is Marcus Camby who worries me. It’s only six games into the second half of the season and Camby is already sitting games due to swelling in his left knee. I’ll be checking with my inside sources up until game time to keep everyone informed as to whether or not Marcus will play, but I think it goes without saying that the Nuggets sure could use him against the Blazers. Another guy who the Nuggets could use tonight is Eduardo Najera. The Grout did not play against the Bobcats with a sore rib, but is averaging seven points and five rebounds against the Portland Trailblazers this year.

Other than an injury report that I will update later today there really isn’t much else to say about tonight’s game. Both teams know the future implications of this game and how important how you fare against those in your division is. Head over to www.blazersedge.com for the best Blazer blog in the business and don’t forget to give me some feedback about doing a group outing at the ESPN Zone in downtown Denver sometime down the stretch of the second half of the season.

Go Nuggets!

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