The NBA playoffs are closer than you may think, with the first games taking place on April 15th. There will likely be many surprises in the days leading up to the postseason, as the standings finally shake out.
However, the top seeds in the East and West have already been set in stone, leaving them to watch how things play out in hopes of avoiding these nightmare matchups.
NBA Playoffs: Denver Nuggets: Golden State Warriors
Denver still has nightmares about their first-round matchup with the Warriors last season. While Nikola Jokic’s co-stars, Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr., were both out for the series, neither could’ve stopped the absurd scoring runs Golden State went on repeatedly throughout the five games it took for the Nuggets to be eliminated.
Over the course of the series, Golden State averaged 118 points per game, seven more than the number of points they averaged in the regular season. Their scoring outbreak was due to the frequency at which Steve Kerr ran the Warriors’ small ball lineup, made up of Steph Curry, Jordan Poole, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins, and Draymond Green.
While Wiggins will be returning to the court after a two-month absence, those three guards being on the court together is more than enough shooting and playmaking to exploit Denver’s defensive weaknesses.
Luckily, with Porter Jr. and Murray back, the Nuggets will have a chance of simply outscoring Golden State, but if that’s what they’re counting on, they better knock their shots down right out of the gate.