Carmelo Anthony looks at the landscape of the fast-approaching Western Conference playoffs and doesn’t see a team that scares him.
“I think the West has been wide open,” the Nuggets’ star forward said. “I look at the West and I don’t really see that one dominant team. Everybody says the Lakers. Yeah, the Lakers are pretty good. But I don’t really see that team you can say is going to win the West. I think it’s pretty much even right now.”
Using Anthony’s assessment as the foundation, San Antonio’s announcement that guard Manu Ginobili (fractured foot) will miss the rest of the season and the playoffs makes the road appear a bit less difficult. A weakened Spurs team could open the door for an unexpected challenger, such as the Nuggets, to make a deeper playoff run than first thought.
“Well, we’ll see. I don’t know,” Nuggets guard Chauncey Billups said. “Of course, that’s a big blow for them. He’s a big piece of what they do. But we’ll see how it all comes down.”
The Spurs have been arguably the Nuggets’ biggest playoff obstacle in recent history. They beat the Nuggets 4-1 in series played in 2007 and 2005. Both years the Spurs went on to win the NBA title.
Conventional wisdom says the Lakers, as the No. 1 seed, are the favorite to advance to the Finals, but the ever-present Spurs were expected to cast some doubt. Few teams win in the postseason the way San Antonio has over the past decade.
But the Nuggets, who currently occupy the No. 2 spot in the Western Conference, aren’t ready to write off the Spurs.
“That’s a big loss for the Spurs,” Anthony said. “But I think the Spurs will find a way. They’ll find a way. They’ll find somebody to step up and take that challenge.”
Said coach George Karl: “Anytime you lose a star player, there’s a heaviness and disappointment that they are going to have to overcome. But they are still going to be a (darn) good team. They’re probably a better playoff team than they are a regular-season team. I don’t count them out.”
Time will tell if the Nuggets even face the Spurs in the playoffs, but Ginobili has been a player Nuggets fans love to hate. And Nuggets forward Kenyon Martin feels no sympathy for the Spurs’ loss.
“It’s a sad thing that he can’t play, but I don’t feel sorry for them by any stretch of the imagination,” Martin said. “You don’t wish injury on nobody, but I don’t feel sorry for the Spurs.”
Asked if a depleted Spurs team makes the Western Conference playoff race more wide open, Martin hedged.
“I’m just worried about us,” he said. “So whatever other teams are doing is not our concern at this point. All you guys think the Lakers are the team to beat anyway.”
Chris Dempsey: 303-954-1279 or cdempsey@denverpost.com
Down the stretch
Down 12 at halftime, Portland rallied Tuesday night for a 96-93 victory at Memphis.
Tuesday Portland won, Denver and Utah were off.
What it means The Nuggets look to gain either way tonight, with Portland, chasing Denver in the division, playing at San Antonio, which is trying to overcome the Nuggets for the conference’s No. 2 seed.
What’s left Gms. back, Gms. left, At home
Denver — 4 2
Portland 2 1/2 5 3
Utah 4 1/2 5 2
Today Denver hosts Oklahoma City; Portland at San Antonio; Utah at Dallas.
Oklahoma City at Denver
7 p.m. tonight, ALT, KCKK 1510 AM/KRCN 1060 AM
Spotlight on Russell Westbrook: The rookie guard out of UCLA has put together a season so notable it qualifies for rookie of the year consideration. Westbrook stuffs stats in a ton of categories, averaging 15.5 points, 5.1 assists, 4.8 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game going into Tuesday’s game.
Nuggets: Forward Kenyon Martin, who has missed the last two games with a strained rib, is not expected to play tonight. . . . Coach George Karl knows Oklahoma City has the ability to play spoiler. The Thunder defeated the Spurs in San Antonio on March 31. “They played great against San Antonio and that’s the film we’ve been studying,” Karl said. “It’s one of those games where they have nothing to gain other than beating us and feeling good about it.”
Thunder: Former Nuggets guard Chucky Atkins returns to Denver tonight for the first time since being traded to the Thunder for center Johan Petro on Jan. 7. . . . In a saga that has a chance to end happily, guard Shaun Livingston is back on the court with Oklahoma City after suffering one of the worst knee injuries in NBA history in 2007, tearing his anterior and posterior cruciate ligaments, the lateral meniscus, the medial collateral ligament and fracturing his kneecap. He’s played well, averaging 10 points, five rebounds and three assists in 27 minutes per game going into Tuesday night.
Chris Dempsey, The Denver Post
