The Golden State Warriors, the number two seed in the West, will take on the number one seeded Denver Nuggets, tomorrow at the Pepsi Center.
The Nuggets, who have a half-game lead on the conference’s top seed, hope that homecourt advantage will help them beat a Warriors team that has won four straight and is looking to take over as the top team in the West.
The Nuggets have been in first place for 43 days in the very competitive Western Conference so this game will serve as the measuring stick that will help them find out how far they’ve really come this season and how close they are to becoming to becoming a real contender.
The Nuggets, who have won three of their last four games, already beat the Warriors at the Pepsi Center once this season back in October (100-98), in a game that was decided when Denver blocked what would have been a tying layup just before the final buzzer.
The Warriors will be looking not only for some payback for that tough loss but to earn the road win to finally get that one seed, so they’ll come really to play and compete for every single basket in this game.
The Nuggets will need their best game to try and stop the Warriors from taking over first place in the West. That includes having good defensive communication that allows them to be on the same page to stop the endless screens the Warriors set throughout the game.
The Nuggets will also need bench production tonight as they are facing what is arguably the deepest and most talented team in the NBA, but so far this season the Nuggets bench has proven to also be among the best in the league. They need to play like it in this game because the most productive bench could very well make all the difference in this game.
But perhaps the biggest factor for Denver will be center Nikola Jokic, who has had a huge January and he will need to keep it going as the Warriors will make it a priority to stop or at least contain him.
Jokic has proven that he’s a dominating force in the league as he’s developed as one of the best men at his position, so the Nuggets need to get him involved and give him the ball to create havoc inside the paint.
A playoff atmosphere can be expected inside the Pepsi Center not only because of what’s at stake but because these two teams know that it’s very likely they will meet once again in the real postseason, so let the game begin!
