NUGGETS IN CONFERENCE FINALS!

 

(Image taken from NBA.com)

Out West, the Nuggets vs Mavs conference semi final series looked a pretty straightforward one to call, a resurgent Mavs team would see off a side already on their best playoff run for 15 years! George Karl's team clearly didn't read the script. Game 1 was in Denver and the home team won pretty smoothly. More of the same in Game 2. For Game 3 the series switched to Dallas so surely the Nuggets would get a reality check here. Well it was close, but not close enough. In Game 4, the big story was the Cavs securing their spot in the Conference Finals, but for the Mavs it meant saving their bacon. Game 5 saw the series back in Denver though, surely the Mavs couldn't avoid the avalanche second time around.

Well for the Mavs it was again do or die and the opened the first quarter as the much stronger team. They were particularly hot from down town and were leading 10-4 with 8:54 left in the quarter but it was then their turn to endure a drought and the Nuggets took the lead for the first time with just over seven minutes on the clock but the two sides still duelled for a while. Ultimately though, the Mavs lost that duel when they were held scoreless for nearly two minutes. The Nuggets even extended the gap to double figures before the quarter was out but the Mavs did manage to cut into the gap before the buzzer. Still, Nuggets led 34-27 with Chauncey Billups leading the home side on 11 points.

The Mavs tried getting back into the game early in the second quarter but just looked like treading water and the Nuggets soon re-established their double digit lead. The Mavs cut the gap to five with 8:35 on the clock but again the Nuggets had an answer and kept surging clear. The longer the quarter went on, the more obvious it was that the Mavs were going nowhere fast, the home side were pretty much battering them at will. The Mavs tried to rally one again in the closing minutes of the half but again weren't able to make an impact. Nuggets led 69-55 at half time with Carmelo Anthony now leading the way with 21 points. The Mavs had their work cut out.

In the early stages of the third, the Mavs looked to be relying on their three point shooting again, initially to limited effect. Then the Mavs defence kicked in and the Nuggets suffering a two minute drought but eventually coming back and the Mavs couldn't get the gap further down than seven with 6:30 on the clock. The Mavs kept fighting for a bit longer but again found themselves shut down and the Nuggets looked to be cruising away again. In fact the Mavs needed a late surge just for damage limitation. Nuggets led 94-80 at the end of three, Anthony leading the way with 25 points, Billups on 20, Nene providing further backup with 15.

The Mavs didn't look to be going away in the 4th quarter and another Nuggets drought meant that a turnaround still looked on. The Nuggets recovered from that initial drought and the Mavs again made it a six point game with 7:05 left. And yet that wasn't good enough, the Nuggets regained their double digit lead and it didn't look like anything was going to stop their fans from celebrating their first Conference semi final series win since the 1980s! The Mavs were simply left stunned, having been caught on the hop by a Nuggets side that won the game 124-110. Anthony led the way on 30 points, Billups backed him up on 28 with Josh Smith providing further back up from the bench with 18. The Nuggets win the series 4-1 giving their fans enough time to get over the hangover.

Elsewhere, the Lakers anhiliated the Rockets 118-78 in LA to retake the lead of that series to the tune of 3-2. Is that sort of scoreline enough to freeze the Rockets into conceding the series when they get back to Houston? Maybe. In the East, the Celtics beat the Magic 92-88 to turn that series back around. Celtics lead 3-2 and though the next stop in that series is Orlando, it's looking increasingly likely that the Celts title defence has a way to go yet. Either way, NBA.com says it best, "a pair of clinchers"? None of the teams involved are mugs so it would be stupid to call either Game 6 but it'll be quite a ride in both ties whatever happens.

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