Nuggets vs. Kings Preview

(Boulder-CO) Aside from a playoff atmosphere, I don’t know if I have ever attended a basketball game that will have a more energized crowd than will be in the Pepsi Center tonight. With any luck, the Nuggets will have Allen Iverson in their starting line-up and a new era of Nuggets basketball will unfold. An era, that should be chalked full of wins for as long, and as soon, as Carmelo and the Answer are on the same team. Tonight, the Nuggets get to play host to the Sacramento Kings. Hopefully, they will not be so gracious and maybe even a touch stingy against Sac-town.

When you look at the Kings and how they have won their games, I think that it is not a matter of who is going to beat you, but more of how many of them are going to beat you. Their leading scorer is Kevin Martin, 22.1 ppg; however, the Kings also have four other players averaging in double digits that are easily capable of breaking twenty points on any given night. Mike Bibby, Ron Artest, Shareef Abdur-Rahim, and John Salmons are all dangerous despite a team record of 10-14 (3-7 on the road).

Taking this offensive perspective when scouting the Kings makes me believe that the Nuggets are going to need a solid team effort on their agenda to win. Sounds cliché right? No, what I am talking about is perimeter players hitting the glass with some fervor, a good scrape when the ball is in the post, and no easy cuts across the paint with out a strong chug or denial to keep the bunny looks at a minimum. If the Nugget can keep these defensive nuances fresh in their minds while offensively, with Iverson now in the mix, they should be ok against the Kings.

Marcus should, without a doubt, win the battle between he and Brad Miller and a solid effort in combination with the pumped up crowd and I predict the Nuggets should win. Not sure about the +/- for all you gamblers looking to fatten the holiday bill fold, but I think the Nuggets should get this one. The Kings are going to be off kilter due to flying in the day of a game and the air is electric in Mile High. I can’t wait to trek to Denver, GO NUGGETS!

Know thy enemy, Nuggets fans. Check out www.sactownroyalty.com.

UPDATE: Thanks for readers comments about Marcus Camby being a scratch for tonight's game against the Kings. Broken finger is the culprit.