Cary Edmondson-US Presswire
The Denver Nuggets are one loss away from another early exit from the NBA playoffs. Maybe the loss of Danilo Gallinari was too much to get over, but the Nuggets did prove they could win without him late in the regular season. Ty Lawson must now be the player to lead the team to victory to stay alive for another day. With the Golden State Warriors up three games to one, they have three chances to come away with a victory and a trip to the semifinals.
Lawson must get the team going offensively and the crowd has got to get behind the team and show the Warriors how tough it is to beat the home team at the Pepsi Center. Lawson led the team in scoring last game, but had a plus/minus of -20.
If the Nuggets are to come back and win the series it all starts at home Tuesday night. There’s no way Denver loses a fourth straight game at home to end their season, right? OK, so let’s just say they do find a way to win and maybe give Nuggets’ fans a little hope. Can they then go into Oakland and win game six? Actually, let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves and focus on one game at a time.
The last game the teams played at the Pepsi Center the Warriors crushed the home team. Can the Nuggets sway the momentum in their favor? Up to this point it has looked unpromising as Stephen Curry and the rest of Golden State dominate the energy and scoring. Lawson is recovering nicely from his injury, but hopefully it’s not just in time for a disappointing end to a record-breaking season.
Fans of the Nuggets might have expected too much going into the postseason, but there’s no way we could have expected them to be down one game to three in the first round. We’ve had dreams and hopes of a Western Conference title run, but now those have turned into nightmares of yet another early exit.
Lawson must get his team to value every possession and play defense that’s not leaving Curry and others wide open for shots. Without Lawson, the Nuggets would definitely be worse off, but he can’t do it all by himself. Andre Iguodala, Kenneth Faried and other starters and subs must contribute individually if the team has any chance to win the next three.
The Warriors have the upper hand and history tells us they will most likely come out on top. However, don’t count the Nuggets out just yet. The playoffs have taught us to expect the unexpected and if Denver can force the series to a game seven, who knows what might happen. If it happens it will mean Lawson is back on top though.
Joe Newsome is a Denver Nuggets contributing writer for Rant Sports. Follow him on Twitter @josocah, check out his Facebook page and add him to your network on Google.
