When listing off the contenders for the Western Conference title, you have got the Oklahoma City Thunder, the San Antonio Spurs, probably the Los Angeles Clippers and I might even give you the Memphis Grizzlies.
But despite their 41-22 record, including an astounding 27-3 at home, nobody is really jumping on the Denver Nuggets bandwagon.
Point guard Ty Lawson says despite the team’s “dark horse” role, they have a real shot at winning it all.
“I was talking to (Andre) Iguodala a couple of days ago and I was like ‘man we can really win a championship if everybody is mature and gets serious about the game plan.’ Because sometimes you just do stuff that is out of the ordinary or just, we don’t pay attention or if we get up 15 points we just shoot regular shots or see if ‘I can make it shots’ and teams come back. If we just stay focused, I feel like we can beat and run with any team in the NBA. We would have a shot to win a championship but we just have to do that for a seven game series. That’s what I feel and I think a lot of people on our team feel the same way. We just have to get everything together down the stretch.”
The Nuggets beat the Clippers by 15 last night for their seventh straight win, so they are bound to get a little bit more attention as we head to the postseason.
I do like Denver a lot. They are exciting to watch and genuinely look like they are having fun out there. Because of the inexperience of the team, I am not sure I can side with Lawson on their chances to win a championship this year, but when you are as good at home as they are, anything is possible.
I can guarantee you that none of the top teams in the West want to play any games in Denver.
Even if the Nuggets do not make it to the Finals, the fact that they are currently the fifth-seed in the West goes to show you what an exciting playoffs we have to look forward to.
Image: USA Today
