Denver Earning Respect

Coach George Karl has been around basketball his entire life, playing at North Carolina, a solid ABA and NBA player and later a coach. His reputation as NBA head coach is somewhere between above average to never rated in top five. This is his fifth stop on the professional coaching trail. Though he’s won over 900 games as NBA coach, he’s probably known more for his team’s failures than success. As coach of Seattle (1992–1998), Karl's 1994 squad won 63 games, yet flamed out when Sonics were upset in the first round by the Denver Nuggets, making them the first number one seed in NBA history to fall to an eight seed.

After departing Seattle, Karl was lured by lucrative contract to Milwaukee and immediately helped turn around a moribund franchise, which culminated in a losing in seven games in the 2001 Eastern Finals to Philadelphia, led by Allen Iverson.

Karl had been reunited with Iverson, this time as his coach in Denver, however it was obvious to veteran NBA followers, Iverson was not a facilitator and they traded him to Detroit for Chauncey Billups. The former Piston embraced returning home to Colorado and his new teammates appreciated the pass-first mentality.

Denver looked headed down another nice season only to be dismissed in the first round of the playoffs, especially after losing a third straight game in early March, the last at home, to a tougher-minded Houston team.

Whatever happened at that point, only the players and coaches know, but the Nuggets as a team scrapped the “soft” label and finished the year 14-3 (10-7 ATS), winning the Northwest Division with franchise-tying 54 victories and securing number two seed in the Western Conference.

The next test was beating New Orleans in opening round of playoffs. Yes, the Hornets were banged up, but that wasn’t Denver’s problem, they had enough playoff failures to write an e-book. The Nuggets completely neutralized the Hornets the first two games on home court to take 2-0. Denver had upper hand early against New Orleans in Game 3, but the Hornets fought their way back to victory 95-93.

This placed onus on a better Denver team to standup and prove they deserved second seed and did they ever. A 36-15 first quarter blitz left New Orleans with no gear to find to comeback and the Nuggets seared them 121-63. Denver's 58-point win matched the most lopsided victory in NBA playoff history, since the Minneapolis Lakers 133-75 blowout of the St. Louis Hawks in 1956. Without digging into the research, taking a stab at saying the 59.5-point cover is the largest in postseason history.

Coach Karl considered Game 4 the most complete and efficient game in his coaching career and now wants his club to go for the kill and polish off New Orleans. Denver is 16-5 ATS after playing as road underdog and is on the verge of winning first playoff series in 15 years and first best of seven in 24 years.

Denver understands the professional pride aspect of the Hornets losing in such a manner and they have to be prepared for New Orleans best shot. "I don't think we're overconfident," Anthony Carter said. "We weren't overconfident on the bus ride from the area. It was quiet like we just lost. We weren't playing loud music, celebrating or none of that." The Nuggets are 10-4 ATS after scoring 100 or more points.

Oddsmakers, like those at BetJamaica.com believe in coach Karl’s team after four covers in four games and have installed them as 10-point favorites, the highest figure of the series. Denver is 8-3 ATS after covering the number. The total has gone back up heading back to the Mile High city to 197 and Carmelo Anthony and friends are 9-3 OVER as favorites.

It’s a tall mountain for New Orleans to climb, as Chris Paul looked thoroughly spent in having one of the worst games of his career after playing 46 minutes in Game 3 and they are 7-20 as road underdogs and 14-2 UNDER after trailing in their previous game by 20 or more points at the half.

Denver goes for knockout on TNT at 10:35 Eastern, with Hornets 5-15 ATS as a road underdog of 6.5 to 12 points, losing by average of 11.2 points a game.

Hornets favored to even series behind Paul

The Hornets went home down 0-2 and clawed their way to victory over Denver 95-93 Saturday. New Orleans did it the old-fashion way, just like their coach Byron Scott used to do it with the Los Angeles Lakers as a player, by shortening the bench and relying on starters. Scott used a total of eight players in Game 3, including having point guard Chris Paul play 46 minutes. In order to even up the series, the all-star may have to reach same threshold or more in tonight’s contest.

“It’s the playoffs. There’s nothing to save and Chris is such a passionate player, he wants to be out there,” Hornets center Tyson Chandler said after practice on Sunday. “It’s like you almost have to peal him off the court. He does a good job of letting coaches know when he’s really gassed so he can get a breather and get back out there.” The former Wake Forest product scored 32 points and dished out 12 assists, in his first big performance of the series.

Paul played 34 minutes in Game 1 and 38 minutes in Game 2. New Orleans lost both games by double digits and coach Scott had to change the formula.

Scott said of the eight-man rotation on Sunday, “worked pretty good for us and it’s obviously something I’ll probably do tomorrow.” The Hornets did fail to cover the 4.5-point spread in last game and has failed to cover the number in this series. They are 15-5 ATS after failing to cover the spread in three or more consecutive games.

Denver’s Chauncey Billups hopes his team is more patient on offense in the next game if Paul is asked again to play heavy minutes. “We feel like he has to play that many minutes for them to have a shot,” said Billups. “His responsibility for his team is probably more than anybody’s in the league. We have to try to take advantage of him on the other end of the court, make him defend and try to wear him down a little bit.”

After shooting 50 percent or better in the first two games of the series, the Nuggets struggled in the bayou, connecting on just 40.5 percent (30-74) from the field. Denver has to force the tempo and raise the score, since they are 9-2 ATS when they score 103 or more points since Mar. 23.

Bookmaker.com has lowered the Hornets down to 2.5-point home favorites with total of 194. Denver is 15-5 ATS after playing a game as a road underdog and 12-3 OVER in road games after a loss by six points or less. New Orleans continues to have difficulties beating the spread and they are 3-8 ATS in last 11 games and 8-2 UNDER playing at home.

NBA-TV will have the coverage starting at 8:35 Eastern, with the Hornets 8-3 ATS as postseason favorites.

Colossal NBA Friday Double-Dipper

Every now and again the scheduling of NBA games to be televised works out to perfection. The best teams come together and the players and the fans really are charged up for a big ball game, instead looking like a half-eaten burrito the next morning, which a lot of NBA games do. With most of the people in the country having to run outside every hour to start their cars because of the frigid weather, tonight might be a great evening to order out a pizza (tip the driver well for driving in this weather), do a little cha-ching business with your man and enjoy a great double-header on the World Wide Leader in Sports.

New Orleans at Cleveland

The Cavaliers lost in overtime to Chicago last night and will be short-handed, literally for tonight’s important contest. Starting guard Delonte West broke his right wrist in a violent collision with Chicago’s Derrick Rose and will be out an undetermined amount of time. The Cavs were already without center Zydrunas Ilgauskas (broken ankle) and Ben Wallace did not play last night due to intestinal flu. LeBron James is fighting a cold and had likely his worst game of the season last night shooting 8 of 28 and committing eight turnovers.

All of these elements are coming together at the wrong time for Cleveland. The Cavs (30-7, 26-11 ATS) have taken full advantage of a soft schedule in the first half of the season, but unlike the Cleveland weather, things are about to heat up for them. After tonight’s matchup with the talented Hornets, they embark on four-game West swing, playing in unfriendly outposts like Portland, Utah and that team in the Gold and Purple uniforms in L.A. Before Ground Hogs Day, LeBron and whoever else is standing also play in Orlando and Detroit. Yikes!

But as all good coaches tell their players, “Focus on tonight”, which is what Cleveland has to do. One edge they have is Quicken Loans Arena, where coach Mike Brown’s team has yet to taste defeat with 19-0 record. Not many squeakers either for the Cavs who are 15-4 ATS at home, winning by gargantuan 16.5 points per game.

The Cavs could use the quickness of West to help slow down Chris Paul, who nearly had a quadruple-double against Dallas in victory two days ago. New Orleans (23-12, 16-18-1 ATS) has alternated wins and losses in last six contests and is 11-7 (8-9 ATS) on the road. The problem here for the Hornets is playing quality competition on the road, as they are only 5-12-1 ATS if opponent has winning home record.

Bookmaker.com has lowered Cleveland down to four-point favorites because of injuries, though the total has remained stable at 185.5. New Orleans is looking to catch fire like this time a year ago, as the Hornets are 16-5 ATS in January the last two campaigns. New Orleans is 17-5 UNDER in a road game where the total is between 180 and 189.5 points and Cleveland is 16-3 UNDER off a loss against a division rival.

This is the opener on ESPN starting just after 8 Eastern, with the Cavs 11-1 ATS off a SU loss.

Orlando at L.A. Lakers

As good as the first matchup appears, it looks like ground chuck to this thick-cut porterhouse between Orlando and the Lakers. The Lakers (31-7, 18-20 ATS) lead the NBA in scoring at 107.8 points a game and have a glittering 20-2 home record (10-12 ATS). Los Angeles has become known to play to the level of competition this season, accounting for lousy spread record, but will have no problem getting up for Superman and his bombardiers.

Dwight Howard was mostly a spectator as Orlando (31-8, 27-12 ATS) drained a NBA record 23 3-pointers in win over Sacramento on the road Tuesday. It’s not magic the Magic lead the NBA is three point shots made, averaging over 10 a game on sharp 40.1 percent accuracy. This opens up the middle for Howard to wreak havoc and Orlando is on 14-2 run, including five in a row. The Magic are the best bet in the NBA and are superb 15-5 SU and ATS on the road.

The Lakers suffered a cruel loss at San Antonio in the final seconds, but got the cover and are 6-2 ATS facing a team with a winning record. The biggest task for Phil Jackson to do is encourage his team to play better defense, since they have allowed 109.6 points a game in last six outings and are 2-11 ATS in home games after allowing 100 points or more three straight games.

Kobe and company are four-point favorites, with total of 213.5. Orlando is 8-1 ATS as a road underdog this season a perfect 10-0 ATS versus offensive teams scoring 99 or more points a game this year. The total could be hard call with Andrew Bynum emerging as a force in recent games and the Lakers 8-0 OVER in home games after allowing 105 points or more. The Magic are 15-6 UNDER after surrendering 100 points or more in their previous game.

This very intriguing East-West encounter will start immediately after the earlier meeting. You should know the Magic are 8-0 ATS playing second game in five days, while the guys from La-La land are 3-11 ATS with one day between contests.