The Nuggets and Mavericks open their Western Conference semifinal series Sunday at the Pepsi Center. Five predictions for the series:
5. Chauncey Billups will hit seven out of nine 3-pointers in the opener, and some reporter will ask him why he’s in a slump.
4. J.R. Smith will miss back-to-back 3s in Game 2, whereupon Mavs owner Mark Cuban will be overheard yelling “Neener, neener, neener” from his courtside seat.
3. The Nuggets will win the first two games, and one of their players will say, “No one has given us any respect all year long.” And he’ll be right.
2. Mavs coach Rick Carlisle, below, will look in a mirror in the visitor’s locker room and shout out, “Damn, I look more like Jim Carrey than Jim Carrey does.”
1. The Post will run a headline that reads “Mavs Contract Bird(man) Flew.”
