San Antonio – One Nuggets player says it’s time to scrap the game plan and play. Another says the Nuggets have exhausted all of their options. Another says there’s still more that can be tinkered with in order to extend the series.
If it seems the Nuggets are a little out of sorts, it’s because on a certain level they are.
What they all agree on, however, is that there’s nothing left but to let it all hang out in tonight’s game against the San Antonio Spurs. On the brink of elimination, the Nuggets must win tonight in order to extend their season.
“We can forget about the game plan,” forward Eduardo Najera said. “It’s all about energy and effort and heart.”
The Nuggets won Game 1 at the AT&T Center, in what seemed at the time to be a mark of their arrival in the first-round series. Since then, they have dropped three in a row.
In a meeting with his players Tuesday, coach George Karl listed all the teams that have rallied from 3-1 deficits to at least force a Game 7 in order to boost morale. Veteran center Marcus Camby said the speech wasn’t anything the team hadn’t heard in each of the past three seasons, but added the players haven’t given up yet.
“Our spirits are definitely high,” Camby said. “We feel this team isn’t that much better than us.”
Par for the course?
Karl said “I still believe in Allen Iverson” despite the veteran guard’s shooting difficulties in this series.
But before Iverson is completely written off, consider this: His current series performance of .391, while bad, actually is the fourth-best shooting percentage he has posted in the playoffs during his career. In eight postseasons, Iverson has shot better than 40 percent in just three of them.
Footnotes
Karl said he thought a key to the series was the fatigue factor of his team. He said it looked like Denver players are being worn down. Not so, Camby said. “They’re not wearing us down,” he said of the Spurs. “They are just making the key plays when they need to.” … Nuggets forward Reggie Evans is expected to be back with the team today. He missed Game 4 to attend his grandmother’s funeral.
