Playing back-to-back games in the NBA is never easy, but when your back-to-backs in April are against the third and fourth seeds in the Western Conference, cursing the schedule makers is a right of passage.
That's the boat the Denver Nuggets are in today, as they head to Texas to take on the third seed in the West Dallas Mavericks, a day after a hard fought loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Tuesday's loss snapped Denver's 10-game home win streak, and virtually confirmed that the Nuggets won't have home court advantage for the first round of the NBA Playoffs.
Though the Nuggets have a 2 ½ game lead over sixth place Portland in the Western Conference, two of their final five games are tonight's against the Mavericks and Friday's at the Thunder meaning there potentially could be some jostling between the teams. Ironically, depending on how the final week of the season shakes out, the Mavs and Thunder are most likely the Nuggets first round opponent.
Between their potential playoff opponents, on the season the Nuggets are 2-1 against Dallas heading into tonight's game and 1-2 against the Thunder.
Back-to-backs are difficult to win, and for the Nuggets to pull this one out they will need to use their young legs to get out and open the floor, tiring out the older Dallas Mavs. Ty Lawson and Raymond Felton and the keys to keeping the pace up and pulling out a Nuggets win.
The game tips tonight at 6:30 p.m. MDT and can be seen on Altitude.