Week Eight: East Coast Road Trip

(Boulder-CO) It’s week eight and the Nuggets are a respectable 11-7 so far. With any luck they can be 15-7 after having four games in five days this week because every team they will face is below .500. Tuesday they should enact revenge on the Hawks for their first embarrassing display before facing the Wizards on Wednesday. One day of rest and travel and right back at it with the struggling Celtics on Friday and then more revenge against the Knicks after a second game loss to New York that still haunts me. It should be a good week.

Denver is still pacing to win 50 games this year. Remember the breakdown? Just in case you don’t, here is goes again. If you divide the 82 game season into eight, ten-game stretches and win six out of every ten you finish with 48 wins with two games remaining for the even fifty. The Nuggets just need to win one more to be on pace and can even gain one on the system by winning two straight. So all things considered, and when you consider the losses the Nuggets have accumulated it’s pretty mind-blowing, everything is looking pretty good in Denver. No rest for the wicked though, because the Nuggets need to make up three games to take control of the Northwest Division from Utah and I think that this week is the perfect opportunity to do just that!

Tomorrow, the Nuggets should need no pep talk. The Hawks came into the Pepsi Center last week and stunned the Nuggets with a 37-point fourth quarter which snatched victory. Carmelo only scored 24 (only…), but should have something to prove as should the rest of the Nuggets. I’m known for my bold predictions and this seems to be the perfect opportunity to not shy away from one. The Nuggets will win against the Hawks. How’s that for believing in your team?

The back-to-back with Washington is going to be tough. I can’t wait to watch the Yak match-up with “Agent Zero”. The Wizards game is too close to call however, because of being the tail end of a back-to-back and you have to always consider travel time. The Nuggets will most likely not get into Washington until extremely late which makes it the scariest game on this road trip.

Fortunately, the next two games are not so tough to predict. I know that in today’s NBA anything can happen, but if the Nuggets do not beat the 6-13 Celtics I might have a breakdown… Let’s be real, folks. The Nuggets are a team with a lot more options on offense and as long as Paul Pierce doesn’t go off for fifty they should be victorious. Bold prediction number two is Nuggets over Boston. How’s that for going out on a limb?

And finally is the Nuggets rematch with the New York Knicks. There is not a second look at a team that beat the Nuggets so far this year that I have been looking forward to more! Jamal Crawford scored 20 of his 35 points in the fourth quarter and no series of events were bigger than when he blocked a Najera pass, recovered the steal, and dropped a devastating three ball in Denver’s face to win the game. I was sour for days after the loss because at that point the Nuggets were 0-3. But I say, “Forget the past altogether”, because here comes payback! Bold statement number three is Nuggets over Knicks. You wanna get nuts? ALRIGHT, let’s get NUTS!

I’m going out on limbs for all to see this time, but only because I have faith in this team. These are four very winnable games for the Nuggets and I think that this road trip couldn’t have come at a better time. When a team is on the road they rely on each other and build character. I feel that at this point the Nuggets are still doing a little bit of identity searching and this road trip is going to be good for them. I can feel it.