The Nuggets’ laundry list of chores for the season’s stretch run includes a simple set of tasks if they are to nudge themselves from also-ran into playoff contenders.
And George Karl has them memorized.
“We’re preparing for every game like it’s the NCAA Tournament. We can’t lose,” Denver’s fourth-year coach said. “We know we can probably lose a couple. But our mental thing is, it’s a one-game tournament. We’ve got to win now.”
The Nuggets (39-26), with Northwest Division foe Seattle (16-50) in town tonight (7 p.m. at the Pepsi Center), must follow these keys to reach the postseason, according to Karl:
• Beat teams they’re supposed to, including the SuperSonics. The Nuggets are 14-4 this season against teams with fewer than 25 victories. Five of their remaining 17 games are against sub-25 win teams.
“I don’t think we want to waste a lot of mental energy on a close game,” Karl said of the Seattle game.
The Nuggets, in a 137-105 blowout of visiting Toronto on Friday, scored their most points (79) in a first half since 1991. Every starter, excluding Allen Iverson, sat the entire fourth quarter. And Iverson only played 1:43 to begin the fourth.
• Get defensive. Denver is 16-4 this season when holding opponents to fewer than 100 points. In the five games since beating Phoenix on March 5, the Nuggets’ defense has twice held teams below the century mark (both wins, over San Antonio and Memphis). But they gave up 132 points to Utah in a blowout loss.
“Defensively, other than the Utah game we’ve been a pretty solid defensive team, at times a very good defensive team,” Karl said. “When we hold teams under 100 points, we tend to win.”
And the Nuggets have a better record against teams from the Northwest than does Utah, the division leader.
• Show some respect. Rookie standout Kevin Durant comes to town tonight averaging 19.5 points and 4.1 rebounds.
“You’ve got to respect him,” Karl said. “He’s capable of having a big night. And they’re still playing very hard. They scared Toronto the other night; they should’ve won that game.”
But with a five-game road swing starting Tuesday in Detroit, the Nuggets are hoping to leave town with a three-game win streak by beating Seattle.
“Hopefully we’ll get after it early and do what we’ve done the last couple of games and not have to worry about the fourth quarter,” Karl said.
SEATTLE AT DENVER
7 p.m. tonight, ALT, KKFN 104.3 FM
Spotlight on Nick Collison: Collison’s line
coming out of college was his textbook
footwork as a forward-center. That’s gotten
him to 9.6 points and 8.7 rebounds
this season, his fourth in the NBA. Collison’s
alma mater, Kansas, will face Kevin
Durant’s former Texas team today in the
Big 12 Championship game. Collison led
the Jayhawks to their last NCAA championship appearance, in
2003-where they lost to Carmelo Anthony-led Syracuse.
NOTEBOOK
Nuggets: Allen Iverson’s injured right ring finger is still listed by the team as a “non-displaced fracture,” despite locker room talk after the game calling it “broken.” “There’s a crack there,” coach George Karl said. “I don’t know what the medical terms are, cracks or hairline fractures, displaced. There’s a problem there, medically. He’s on a game-to-game basis. You observe and see what he can handle.” . . . Nuggets’ radio play-by-play man Jerry Schemmel, after Iverson’s postgame news conference Friday, joked: “Well, Iverson just gave the finger to reporters.”
SuperSonics: The Sonics creeped closer to a move to Oklahoma City. Washington state legislators on Friday again refused to use taxes to improve or replace the team’s arena, according to The Seattle Times. On Saturday, Oklahoma City city manager Jim Couch said the city was prepared to offer a team-friendly 15-year lease to the Sonics if they move there, the Times said. The team would likely play at the Ford Center, where the Hornets played in their temporary stay in Oklahoma City.
Nick Groke: 303-954-1015 or ngroke@denverpost.com
