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Contending Spurs see Denver as a threat, too

Paul Willis , Special to the Rocky

Published March 9, 2008 at 3:26 p.m.

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How's this for a change? The Nuggets have a chance to defeat the San Antonio Spurs in a series.

OK, so it's not a playoff series, but a victory tonight at the AT&T Center in San Antonio would give the Nuggets a 3-1 win in the regular-season series. That would be against the same team that ousted them from the first round of the playoffs last season and in 2004-05, each time by a 4-1 margin.

The Nuggets, who ended San Antonio's 11-game winning streak Friday in Denver before getting trampled 132-105 on Saturday at Utah, haven't been much more than speed bumps for the Spurs, who marched to NBA titles each season they eliminated Denver.

They haven't won a season series against the Spurs since 1987-88.

That doesn't mean the Spurs are eager to meet Denver again in the playoffs, assuming the Nuggets, currently two games out of the eighth spot in the Western Conference, get in.

"I'm never going to say that last year was an easy thing to beat them," Spurs guard Manu Ginobili said. "We beat them 4-1, but every game, we had to fight."

The Spurs likely wouldn't provide any bulletin-board fodder by proclaiming they would love to meet Denver again in a playoff series. But it appears, at the very least, the Nuggets have earned some genuine respect from the defending champs.

"They're a dangerous team year in and year out with their athleticism and their two guys, the two scorers," said Spurs forward Tim Duncan, referring to Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony. "Then (Friday) they got a good effort out of Eduardo (Najera) that really hurt us. They're as dangerous as they always are. They're always someone that people look at and don't want to see in a playoff series. They're that good."

Despite Denver's ninth-place standing in the conference with a 37-25 record and four-game deficit to Utah in the Northwest Division, Duncan said the Nuggets are perceived around the league as a top-flight contender.

"Nobody in the West is a 7 or 8 (seed)," Duncan said. "Those teams need to be respected as much as a 1, 2, 3 or 4."

Nuggets coach George Karl claims the contest tonight "will be like a playoff game" and that each team will be "kind of reshaping what worked and what didn't work" Friday.

Whether this season is an issue of the Nuggets narrowing the gap on San Antonio or the Spurs' inability to fully capture their groove is debatable. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich hinted the latter might be the case.

"We're not at the same level we were last year at this time, even though we seem to be situated relatively well in the West," said Popovich, whose team is 43-19 after a 94-87 loss Sunday at Phoenix and entered Sunday one-half game behind the Lakers for the top spot in the conference. "This team isn't as good as last year's as we sit. We've got significant improvement we have to make both mentally and physically to be able to contend for the championship."

Like Denver, the Spurs didn't make a huge splash near the trade deadline, but they did trade former Nuggets center Francisco Elson and Brent Barry to Seattle as part of a deal for workmanlike center Kurt Thomas and also signed free-agent point guard Damon Stoudamire.

Before the loss to the Nuggets, the Spurs had been 6-0 since the acquisition of Thomas, who has been placed in the starting lineup.

"He's been working out great," Duncan said. " 'Pop's' trying to get him a lot of time on the floor and trying to get him acclimated to what we do and an understanding of what we do. They've thrown a lot of stuff at him, and he's sucked it all up, and he's really reacted and picked our team up."

It remains to be seen tonight whether the prospect of winning a series against the Spurs picks up the Nuggets after their blowout loss Saturday.

Nuggets at Spurs

* When: 6:30 MDT tonight.

* Where: AT&T Center, San Antonio.

* TV/radio: Altitude; KKFN-AM (950) and KJCD-FM (104.3).

* Starting lineups

Denver (37-25) Pos. Ht. Pts.

15 Carmelo Anthony F 6-8 25.9

4 Kenyon Martin F 6-9 11.4

23 Marcus Camby C 6-11 9.4

25 Anthony Carter G 6-2 7.8

3 Allen Iverson G 6-0 26.8

Coach: George Karl

San Antonio (43-19) Pos. Ht. Pts.

12 Bruce Bowen F 6-7 5.8

21 Tim Duncan F 6-11 19.7

40 Kurt Thomas C 6-9 7.0

9 Tony Parker G 6-2 18.3

4 Michael Finley G 6-7 9.9

Coach: Gregg Popovich

Injuries: Denver - F Nene (testicular cancer surgery) is out; Martin (mild concussion) is probable. San Antonio - None reported.

* Notes: Martin is expected to start after being lost for the game Saturday, late in the first quarter of a 132-105 loss at Utah when he was elbowed by the Jazz's Mehmet Okur. . . . Nuggets center Steven Hunter, who missed the past two games because of his grandmother's funeral in Chicago, said he'll miss the shoot-around today but will be back for the game. . . . The Spurs had won 11 straight before losing 109-96 on Friday at Denver, then 94-87 on Sunday at Phoenix. . . . The Nuggets haven't beaten San Antonio in a season series since 1987-88, but a triumph would give them a 3-1 win this season. . . . After starting three straight and 17 of his past 18, Spurs guard Manu Ginobili scored 22 points off the bench Sunday.

Comments

  • March 9, 2008

    8:20 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    BalltownIA7 writes:

    Friday Night, Impressed, Saturday night, Not So Much.
    Lack of effort and attitude once again. Even if you make the playoffs do you expect them to do anything because they take SO MANY NIGHTS OFF.

    At this point, I'd rather see them miss the playoffs and make MAJOR changes, including the Head Coach, to get better for next year than to make the playoffs, keep the coach and make a minor change here and there and think it's going to get better next year. Start with your so called Head Coach and your so called Superstars that take nights off.

    And Nuggets fans, don't be so sure that Chapman/Wark/Stan K know what is going on. Karl has the respect of a lot of basketball people and I believe he is a buddy of Kroenke. They won't make a coaching change unless they have someone that they think is better to bring in. Karl doesn't even talk to JR Smith, he said so in an interview on Nuggets Fast Break. I put this on both the player and the coach but it's clear that he doesn't have the respect of his players. And with JR and Melo being good buddies, what does Melo think of Karl.
    Karl has always said the right things, it has always appeared his players didn't do what he said, if they did they would win, so who's fault is that? I don't know myself, I would say again, both the coach and the uncoachable players. Melo can be a great scorer but he is like Dirk, great scorer, rebounds when he wants, plays defense when he wants and not much leadership. That's fine if he doesn't want to be a leader because you can't force leadership but you better have someone on the team that will take that spot and the Nuggets don't have a leader at this time. Very frustrating year, so much talent, so much inconsistent effort.

  • March 9, 2008

    9:57 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    sickandtired writes:

    And the Carmel Apple rolls on ...

    Looks to me after looking at the schedule that the No-Guts will still be 2 games out after Friday's games. Who is it they're gonna pass to get in?

    Almost looks like their best chance is the Suns falling out of it. But Suns just got a big win today.

    Seems like the only best hope is for Atkins to really bring a spark, AND for Nene to come back really soon. But can't see how that could help much, he'll be bad out of shape even if he does. Maybe to help them win 1 or 2 games they really need at the end.

    Management needs to take the blame for this team's showing up to this point. Steve Blake would have been a big help this year, allowing A.I. to stay at shooting guard more. And he can hit an open three.

    I'm done wishing for the Carmel Apple to bring it every night. At this point, they ought to just bench him, shake everyone up. Just too many other things more important to him. The comment about him being like a Juwan Howard type player is right on. Or Glen "Big Dog" Robinson. Iverson being here just shows how far he has to go to be a leader. He's leading by example now in fact, right out of the playoffs.