Fan of Carmelo Anthony in Rhode Island

While the last two games are extremely disheartening and frustrating for Nuggets fans, there is still hope. Indeed, the Nuggets can regain home-court advantage in their first round playoff match-up with the Utah Jazz if they can win on the road on Sunday.


One problem is that the Nuggets don’t exactly have a knack for winning on the road this season, finishing 19-22 in opposing arenas during the regular season. They are the only Western Conference playoff team that finished below .500 on the road, a stat that doesn’t fare well in any arena, much less in EnergySolutions Arena, a venue that the Jazz won 32 out of 41 games this season and one that the Nuggets have struggled to bring their ‘A’ game.

But that is not the only problem. Another ‘big’ problem is the Nuggets’ inability to defend Jazz big men. It would be one thing if Denver executed a similar defensive strategy as last year’s second-round opponent in Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks. The Nuggets played off of Nowitzki and had an interesting and effective strategy to not double-team him in order to focus on keeping the rest of the Dallas players from beating them. If the Nuggets find a way to let Deron Williams be the only big time offensive threat, then they would be sitting in a much better spot. Unfortunately, the Nuggets are making Carlos Boozer, Paul Millsap, and even Kyrylo Fesenko look like the most formidable front-line in NBA history.

The Nuggets third biggest problem so far in the playoffs, and truthfully throughout much of the year, has been their failure to rebound the ball tenacity and purpose. Although the Jazz only outrebounded the Nuggets by one in Friday night’s contest, they still gave up too many opportunities on the defensive end of the floor and not created enough extra opportunities on offense. Rebounding has been a problem for Denver all year, and they will have to collectively focus on the importance of boards in terms of making stops and creating possessions in order to get a leg up against the Jazz.

There is still hope. If the Nuggets focus on stops, their offense will come and they will have a much better chance of evening the series on Sunday. It would certainly help if the Nuggets big men could bring an offensive presence to the floor the way the Utah big men have throughout the series.