Denver Nuggets Pull a First Round Upset Over Favored Oklahoma City Thunder
Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder are America's sweetheart right now. They are young, play hard every night and very unselfish.
It's a true team?unlike most of the NBA.
So naturally the average fan is pulling for the Thunder to make some major moves in the 2011 postseason.
Problem is, they still have never won a postseason series. They put up a valiant effort against the Lakers a season ago before falling 4-to-2.
So the nucleus of Durant, Russell Westbrook, James Harden and Serge Ibaka still have questions surrounding their ability to win in the postseason.
ESPN.com writer Marc Stein is in charge of the power rankings and he thinks the Nuggets have a great shot of the upset:
"Even after last week's sweep of the Nuggets, I still say it's going to be fascinating to watch how OKC handles a Round 1 series with dangerous Denver when expectations, for the very first time, are so sky high."
Click here for more on the Thunder.
That's the main factor to worry about. Not only are they extremely young with little playoff experience, but for the first time ever they have high expectations heading into the second season.
How will they handle the added expectations?
If the Nuggets steal a game in OKC, they will head home with the benefit of the mile high altitude and a tight Thunder team.
The Nuggets are extremely balanced since the 'Melo trade. On Monday night against the Warriors, nine different players scored in double figures.
The Thunder are 3-1 against the Nuggets this season but remember that the Nuggets were without key cogs Chris Anderson and Arron Afflalo for the two losses this past week.
The experience in the coaching department is not even close. George Karl has been to the NBA Finals and has been coaching since the early 80s. Scottie Brooks has the same amount of playoff games as his core players.
I think the pressure catches up to the Thunder as they get caught up in the fast paced game of the number scoring offense in the league. The Nuggets have two point guards in Raymond Felton and Ty Lawson that excel in the chaos and push the ball at will. Russell Westbrook is better, but he can control both players.
Expect the Denver Nuggets to shock the NBA world as they beat the Thunder in six games.
Elisha Cuthbert Ciara Rachel Hunter Heidi Montag Katharine McPhee
No comments:
Post a Comment