Nuggets vs. Hawks: Game 37 Preview

(Boulder-CO) After a tough, shorthanded loss to the Charlotte Bobcats last night I’m a little bit worried about tonight’s match-up with the Hawks. My concerns at this point are threefold: First, Joe Johnson has been playing great lately. Johnson is averaging 29.7 points, 5.7 rebounds and 6.7 assists while shooting 50.8 percent from the field and 63.6 percent from 3-point range in his last three games. He is the kind of guy who’s range starts when he turns his car off in the parking lot and the Nuggets are not doing a very good job of defending the perimeter right now.

The second of my concerns stem from Josh Smith being truly a unique player. Along with averaging 17.6 points, better than three blocked shots, 7.8 rebounds, and being a mediocre three-point threat at 6’9” I’m not sure there has ever been a player like him in the history of the NBA. Sure, there have been better players in each individual category, but I challenge you to come up with a name that has all of the skills Smith possesses and someone with his athletic ability and versatility. Not to mention a dunk contest championship and the ability to guard almost any frontcourt player with equal effectiveness. My point is that Smith is going to be a tough match-up for Carmelo Anthony both offensively and defensively and, with the way things have been looking for the battered Nuggets as of late, Denver can ill afford Anthony to have a bad game with their limited roster.

My last area of concern for tonight’s game is the nature of this back-to-back set. The Nuggets looked spent down the stretch of last night’s game and this year’s Hawks are not going to be the pushovers they were in years past. Furthermore, the Nuggets have only won three out of nine opportunities on the tail end of back-to-back games this year and Denver has only been able to accomplish such a feat twice on the road with one of those occasions coming at the hand of the pitiful Timberwolves.

Now, as I pull the microscope back from this game there is a sense of urgency to win tonight because the Nuggets are now trailing the Trailblazers by half a game for first place in the Northwest division with currently one less win than Portland. Plus, the Nuggets will be playing the hated, third place Utah Jazz on Thursday night and the Jazz have just as many wins as the Nuggets despite having three more losses. All of this means that even though there are still 45 games to play, the Northwest Divisional race is going to get real tight real fast and the Nuggets can not afford to be playing catch up post All-Star break.

Somehow, someway the Nuggets need to win this game. All the cards are stacked against them, but as one of my favorite basketball guru friends always says, “Adversity doesn’t build character, it reveals it!” Tonight we will see just what kind of character this basketball team has.

Go Nuggets!