NBA Games of the Week: The best playing the best
By Chazz Scogna
Friday, Feb. 9: Denver at Houston, 8:00 p.m. ET
Man, when things are rolling, the Nuggets are fun. They are still brutal on defense, but if they can play every game against Golden State, then Warriors-Killer Will Barton could drop a cool 25 each game.
As a whole, the Nuggets continue to be middling in neutrality. They have a 0 net rating. They give back everything they get. Here are their schedule results since Dec. 27: Loss, loss, win, win, loss, loss, loss, win, loss, win, loss, loss, win, win, win, loss, loss, win, win. It’s one thing to be a .500 team. It’s a complete other to cancel out almost every win with a loss in such a consistent pattern. If the Nuggets were the universe and their schedule were the battle between matter (wins) and antimatter (losses), then the 1.12 wins for every loss is the only reason the universe wasn’t destroyed moments after the Big Bang, which, funny enough, is the actual story of the universe!
As for Houston, they continue to destroy conventional ideas on how to play as a basketball. They did dodge a bullet when Isaiah Thomas stepped under James Harden’s attempt on a three-pointer. The MVP candidate landed on Thomas’ foot and rolled his ankle. He stayed in the game so crisis averted, but let that be a lesson for all prospective coaches. Take your stars out during a blowout!