Game 14 Preview: Nuggets on National TV

LA CLIPPERS (4-9) vs DENVER NUGGETS (8-3)

Where: Staples Center

When: Friday, November 20 @ 7:30pm

TV: ESPN / Radio: KFWB980AM, 1330AM in Spanish

Clippers: 2 game losing streak, 4th Pacific Division, 12th Western Conference

Nuggets: 2 game winning streak, 1st Northwest Division, 4th Western Conference

Back from a 1-2 road trip, the Clippers will face one of the top teams in the NBA. Since trading Allen Iverson for Chauncey Billups, the Denver Nuggets have vaulted themselves from the middle of the pack to one of the favorites to win the West. Although the Nuggets are struggling on the road (4-0 at home, 4-3 on the road), they have owned the Clippers winning the last 7 games regardless of which arena played. Denver has lost 3 of 4 road games and only score 95 PPG compared to their average of 102 PPG. The Nuggets have beaten the Clippers and average of 11.4 PPG and last lost to the Clippers on November 21, 2007.

The Nuggets are led by All-Star and Olympian Carmelo Anthony with 29.9 PPG. Anthony has been suffering from migraines lately but has scored 30+ in 7 of 11 games this year. Besides Anthony, the Clippers will have their hands full with Chauncey Billups, J.R. Smith and their bigs Nene and Chris “Birdman” Anderson. Nuggets rookie Ty Lawson (N0rth Carolina) has already shown he can play in the NBA averaging 9.7 PPG and 3.4 APG.

Eric Gordon is still out with the strained groin. He better get back soon as the Clippers are 1-8 without him. Baron Davis and Chris Kaman have been solid this season. Davis is averaging 7.2 APG and 5 more will give him 5,000 assists for his career. Kaman, although has only scored 17 points in the last 2 losses, is averaging 21.5 points and 8.5 rebounds a game. The biggest problem the Clippers have to fix is their inability to get stops when they need to. Teams are either getting wide open shots or collecting offensive rebounds like ticket sales for “New Moon”. One of the reasons the Clippers aren’t keeping up with teams scoring-wise is their shooting guards and small forwards aren’t keeping pace with their counterparts. When the opponent consistently has 4-5 players in double-figures (sometimes multiple 20+ scorers) there needs to be an adjustment on defense and rebounding.

It’s good the Clippers will be on a nationally televised game against one of the powerhouses of the NBA. What would even be better is a solid win against the Nuggets! Tune in…

Tags: Baron Davis, Birdman, Carmelo Anthony, Chauncey Billups, Chris Anderson, Chris Kaman, Eric Gordon, Nene, New Moon, Ty Lawson