Memphis, Tenn. – The Los Angeles Clippers defeated the Nuggets three of four times this season, have a better overall record and will have home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs, which start this weekend.
So why does Clippers guard Sam Cassell believe the Nuggets are the favorites?
“The Clippers weren’t in the playoffs last year,” Cassell said. “We weren’t. Nowhere near it. … Yeah, I think we’re the underdog. I look further than what you did this year. I look at what happened last year. They drew the San Antonio Spurs, the NBA champions, and they fought them.
“We’re the underdogs. They’ve been there.”
With the Clippers’ 101-95 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday night, it became official that Los Angeles would open against Denver. The Nuggets (44-37), who finish the regular season tonight at Seattle, earned the third seed in the Western Conference by winning the Northwest Division. The Clippers (46-35) are the sixth seed but have home-court advantage because of a better overall record.
The Clippers finish the regular season tonight at Dallas, then will make their first playoff appearance since 1997. The Nuggets will be making their third straight postseason appearance.
Nuggets coach George Karl, who coached Cassell with Milwaukee, laughed at his former player’s underdog assessment.
“I don’t know about that,” Karl said. “Sam is a clever guy. Maybe he’s trying to stir up some underdog currents. Usually the underdog is the team with the worse record and doesn’t have home court.”
Nuggets assistant coach and director of scouting Bill Branch attended the Clippers’ loss to the fifth-seeded Grizzlies (48-33), who clinched a first-round matchup against fourth-seeded Dallas.
Branch said the team will complete a scouting report on the Clippers that will be about 300 pages. Each player will get a 10- to 15- page version of the report.
“I’ve seen (the Clippers) play about five or six times in the last 10 games,” Branch said. “We’ve broken down our film of games against them and against teams like Sacramento who have played well against them. We’ve done our homework, talked to people in the league. George is a big information guy, and he’ll prepare the team extremely well.”
Karl called the Clippers the best post-up team in the West and possibly the league. He expressed concern about their key players, including Cassell and MVP candidate Elton Brand. L.A. forward Corey Maggette is expected to play tonight after missing the last seven games with a back injury.
Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy said he was concerned about the Nuggets being the NBA’s top fastbreak team.
“Competitively they have Elton Brand searching for his first playoff success, and we have Melo (Carmelo Anthony) and Andre (Miller) searching for theirs,” Karl said. “I think it’s pretty even, pretty balanced in a lot of categories.”
Said Brand: “We might be underdogs. We don’t have the recent playoff experience that those guys have. Sam’s been there and a few other guys have been there. I don’t know, but they are the third seed and we are the sixth seed.”
Staff writer Marc J. Spears can be reached at 303-820-5449 or mspears@denverpost.com.
NOTEBOOK
THINKING CLIPPERS: Coach George Karl has made it clear his mind is on the playoffs. “I’ve told them that I’ve started watching films of the Clippers,” Karl said. “I’m not watching any films of Seattle. I think the players should start doing that as well.” Karl is leaving it up to Marcus Camby, Carmelo Anthony, Kenyon Martin and Andre Miller if they want to play against the Sonics.”We’re ready to get it started,” Martin said. “Going through the motions isn’t the best way to go into the playoffs. We’re all right.”
FOOTNOTES: The Nuggets’ injury report is improving, but not everyone is ready to play. Greg Buckner, who suffered an injury in Monday night’s game against Houston, is expected to play tonight. Karl said guard Earl Boykins is expected to begin practice Thursday. Forward Eduardo Najera practiced Tuesday and said his return is up to Karl.
– Irv Moss, Denver Post staff writer
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DENVER AT SEATTLE
8:30 p.m., Altitude, ESPN, KKFN 950 AM
