Marcus Camby isn’t an L.A. kind of person.
“I’m an East Coast guy,” he said.
Yet, west is where he and the Nuggets are headed. The Nuggets face the Western Conference’s top seed, the Los Angeles Lakers, in the first round of the NBA playoffs starting Sunday at 1 p.m. (KMGH-7). By halftime of Wednesday’s 120-111 win over the Memphis Grizzlies at the Pepsi Center, the Nuggets knew their fate, thanks to Dallas’ seventh-seed clinching win over New Orleans.
“Let’s go,” said Nuggets guard Allen Iverson of the series against the Lakers. “If you’re scared, get a dog. If you’re scared, go to church.”
Said forward Carmelo Anthony: “The 50 wins don’t mean nothing now. We’ve got to go out there and play. Everybody knows the Lakers are a hot team right now. Everybody knows what Kobe (Bryant) is capable of doing. So we’ve got to go out there and get focused 10 times (more) than . . . during the regular season.”
Still, the Nuggets wanted a 50-win season and they played well enough Wednesday to get it, never trailing.
“I think it’s pretty special,” coach George Karl said. “I think a lot of people should be very proud.”
It’s the Nuggets’ first 50-victory season since they won 54 games in 1987-88. This season’s 50-32 record is the team’s best under Karl and tied for its third-most wins in the NBA years.
But now, the Lakers present a big challenge for the Nuggets, who have not advanced past the first round of the playoffs this decade, losing four straight first-round series.
L.A. beat the Nuggets 3-0 in the regular-season series, winning those games by an average of 16.3 points. And the Nuggets have not played the Lakers since they traded for center Pau Gasol on Feb. 1.
“My feeling when you say 3-0, it was so early in the season,” Karl said. “I watched some of the video of their offense and defense against us, but it was so far back that I think both teams have different personalities. They have it with Gasol being in the lineup. We have it because we’re playing pretty good basketball right now.”
Anthony said nothing that happened in the regular season matters going into the playoffs.
“It doesn’t mean anything,” Anthony said. “Regardless of what we went against them this season, our record, it doesn’t mean nothing right now.”
Anthony also said he thought the Nuggets were clear underdogs against the Lakers, who won 57 games.
“I do, and I think we do as a team,” Anthony said. “Don’t nobody expect us to go out there and win a playoff series. So we’ve got to go out there and prove everybody wrong. These are the type of games that we like.”
Against Memphis, Denver started strong and never looked back at their lottery-bound opponent. Memphis was down by as many as 16 points in the first half and as many as 19 in the second. Iverson led the Nuggets with 21 points. Anthony added 17 and Kenyon Martin finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Seven Nuggets finished in double figures.
The starters were removed in the third quarter and did not return.
Keys to beating the Lakers
Contain Kobe Bryant: Bryant, who may win the league’s MVP award, has had solid all- around games against the Nuggets this season, averaging 22 points, 7.6 assists and 6.3 rebounds.
Rebound the ball: Blocking out is a must. The Lakers were in the top five in rebounding at 44.14 per game, in the top 10 in rebounding margin (+1.35) and Lamar Odom ranked in the top 10 at 10.6 rebounds per game.
Strong in the second half: The Nuggets played the Lakers almost even in the first halves of the season series, scoring a combined 172 points to L.A.’s 173. The second halves, however, were all Lakers as they outscored Denver 180-133.
Nuggets Recap
What you might have missed
Carmelo Anthony received
cheers in his first
home game since being
arrested on suspicion of
DUI early Monday morning.
… Bobby Jones saw
his second game of action
since his return to
the Nuggets, logging 9K
minutes. … Chants of
“Beat L.A.” sprang up,
scattered throughout
the crowd.
Final thought
The Nuggets expected
they would get this far.
Now a pressure-packed
playoff series begins.
Up next
at Los Angeles Lakers,
Sunday, 1 p.m. (Ch. 7)
Chris Dempsey: 303-954-1279 or cdempsey@denverpost.com
