I think this sets up to be a fascinating series. The Nuggets played great team basketball after the Carmelo Anthony deal, as they are a very deep and pretty unselfish team. The Thunder changed identity due to a deal with the Celtics in which they got Kendrick Perkins to play center and they also opened up a starting job for Serge Ibaka. Here’s how I see the matchups in this series:
POINT GUARD: When the Nuggets traded Chauncey Billups to the Knicks, they moved Ty Lawson into the starting lineup and didn’t miss a beat. Lawson played in 80 games (31 starts) for the Nuggets this year and he averaged 26.3 minutes, 11.7 points, 2.6 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 1.0 steals per game.
Russell Westbrook has turned into one of the very best point guards in the entire NBA. He played in 82 games (all starts) for the Thunder this year and he averaged 34.7 minutes, 21.9 points, 4.6 rebounds, 8.2 assists and 1.9 steals per game. The Thunder goes as he goes, as Westbrook is by far the second best offensive player on the Thunder.
EDGE: THUNDER
SHOOTING GUARD: Wilson Chandler came over in the Carmelo Anthony deal. He played in 21 games (19 starts) for the Nuggets and he averaged 30.6 minutes, 12.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.1 blocked shots per game. Chandler is a big shooting guard so he might have some success backing down the Thunder’s shooting guards.
Thabo Sefolosha is the defensive stopper in the backcourt. He played in 79 games (all starts) for the Thunder this year and he averaged 25.9 minutes, 5.1 points, 4.4 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.2 steals per game. Sefolosha doesn’t help much on offense which will give the Nuggets’ shooting guards a break on the defensive end of the court when he’s on it.
EDGE: NUGGETS
SMALL FORWARD: Danilo Gallinari came over in the Carmelo Anthony deal and he actually has replaced him at small forward. Gallinari played in 14 games (12 starts) for the Nuggets this year and he averaged 30.9 minutes, 14.7 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game. Gallinari is going to have to make Kevin Durant work hard on defense or he might have an epic series.
Kevin Durant will likely have a monster series against the Nuggets. He played in 78 games (all starts) for the Thunder this year and he averaged 38.9 minutes, 27.7 points, 6.8 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.1 steals per game. I don’t see any reason not to feed the ball to Kevin Durant as much as possible because I don’t think the Nuggets will be able to stop him.
EDGE: GIGANTIC FOR THE THUNDER
POWER FORWARD: Kenyon Martin appears somewhat healthy for this series. He played in 48 games (all starts) for the Nuggets this year and he averaged 25.7 minutes, 8.6 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game. Martin is starting to slow down so look for the Nuggets to limit his minutes in this series.
Serge Ibaka’s game is defense and rebounding as he will be a force in the paint in this series at both ends of the court. Ibaka played in 82 games (44 starts) for the Thunder this year and he averaged 27.0 minutes, 9.9 points, 7.6 rebounds, 0.3 assists and 2.4 blocked shots per game. I think he’s going to be a huge factor in this series.
EDGE: THUNDER
CENTER: Nene’ Hilario is one of the best kept secrets in the NBA. He played in 75 games (all starts) for the Nuggets this year and he averaged 30.5 minutes, 14.5 points, 7.6 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.1 steals per game. Nene’ is about to become a free agent, so look for him to be plenty motivated to have a good series.
Kendrick Perkins came over in a deal with the Celtics to provide toughness and rebounding and that’s exactly what he has given the Thunder. Perkins played in 17 games (all starts) for the Thunder this year and he averaged 25.2 minutes, 5.1 points, 7.9 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game.
EDGE: NUGGETS
BENCH: The Nuggets have an outstanding bench and George Karl makes excellent use of it. SG Arron Afflalo is a little banged up so he might not have a big role in this series. He played in 69 games (all starts) for the Nuggets this year and he averaged 33.7 minutes, 12.6 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game. PG Raymond Felton has adjusted to his role coming off the bench. He played in 21 games (0 starts) for the Nuggets this year and he averaged 31.6 minutes, 11.5 points, 3.6 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 1.3 steals per game. Felton will likely get a lot of P.T. in this series to help harrass Russell Westbrook. SG J.R. Smith will be the long range assassin off the bench in this series. He played in 79 games (6 starts) for the Nuggets this year and he averaged 24.9 minutes, 12.3 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.2 steals per game. SF/PF Al Harrington will also be instant offense off the bench for the Nuggets. He played in 73 games (3 starts) for the Nuggets this year and he averaged 22.8 minutes, 10.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game. Chris “The Birdman” Andersen plays like a man with his hair on fire. He played in 45 games (0 starts) for the Nuggets and he averaged 16.3 minutes, 5.6 points, 4.9 rebounds, 0.4 assists and 1.3 blocked shots per game. Rookie SG/SF Gary Forbes isn’t likely to get much P.T. in this series. He played in 63 games (11 starts) for the Nuggets this year and he averaged 12.6 minutes, 5.2 points, 1.8 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game. Center Kosta Koufos also came over in the Carmelo Anthony deal and he played pretty well at the end of the year. Koufos played in 11 games (1 start) for the Nuggets and he averaged 8.9 minutes, 4.9 points and 3.0 rebounds per game.
SG James Harden really played well for the Thunder this season and he’s going to likely have a huge role in this series. Harden played in 82 games (5 starts) for the Nuggets this year and he averaged 26.7 minutes, 12.2 points, 3.1 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.1 steals per game. Center Nazr Mohammed came over at the trade deadline from the Bobcats and he’s going to get his fair share of minutes at center in this series. He played in 24 games (7 starts) for the Thunder this year and he averaged 17.9 minutes, 6.9 points, 4.8 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game. PG Eric Maynor gives Russell Westbrook a break whenever he needs one. Maynor played in 82 games (0 starts) for the Thunder last year and he averaged 14.6 minutes, 4.2 points, 1.5 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game. PF/C Nick Collison might also get some run in this series. He played in 71 games (2 starts) for the Thunder this year and he averaged 21.5 minutes. 4.6 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game. SG/SF Daequan Cook is the long range bomber off the bench for the Thunder. He played in 43 games (0 starts) for the Thunder last year and he averaged 13.9 minutes, 5.6 points, 1.7 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game.
EDGE: NUGGETS
COACHING: George Karl is as tough as they come as he battled cancer and appears to have beaten it for now. That has to be an inspiration to his team. Karl has a 1,036-703 (59.6%) record during the regular season and he is 74-93 (44.3%) during the post-season.
Scott Brooks is trying to take his troops to the next level. Brooks is 127-106 (54.5%) during the regular season and he is only 2-4 (33.3%) in the post-season. To be fair though, the Thunder did play the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the playoffs last year.
EDGE: SLIGHT FOR NUGGETS
PREDICTION: I think this is going to go the whole seven games with the Thunder winning the last one in Oklahoma City.
