Warriors-Nuggets Preview

The Warriors made a big statement on Thursday by knocking off the San Antonio Spurs in San Antonio. For the Denver Nuggets, they've won four out of their last five games after a close win against the Miami Heat on Friday night. Tonight, both teams square off in the Mile High City as the Warriors will look to continue momentum while the Nuggets will try to put the brakes on a hot Warriors team right now.

For the Nuggets, the upside might be in their favor. They've beaten the Warriors in 19 out of the 25 games they've played in Denver, in a 132-110 blowout back on February 13, but that was also a game where all of the Warriors star sat out for, so it was basically a game with no real leverage on both teams. Tonight might be.

Nuggets forward Paul Millsap said about the game last night against Miami, "I'm glad we got this (win)...Our confidence is up, we're playing really good basketball defensively and offensively. So on Saturday, it should be a good game for us. It's a good challenge for us."

The Nuggets have played well as of late, including the game I went to on Wednesday night where they seemed to blow out the Toronto Raptors at every turn, and then almost lost to the Miami Heat before winning by one. The Warriors are going in making sure that won't happen to them on this night.

For the Nuggets, some of the keys are very simple. They need to get the ball. The Warriors are the best team in transition play so far this season, averaging around 1.3 points per possession when they go on the break, and are difficult to stop when they do that. They need to hold off the delay long enough to get the defense set. The Nuggets are not going to be able to avoid turnovers on the night, because the Warriors can create that without turnovers. What they need to do in those situations is think defense first when it comes to those possibilities.

Another crucial key for the Nuggets is the timeout calls. They've struggled after timeout calls, and teams have capitalized when both teams come out of the timeout. The Raptors proved that on Wednesday night, as did the Heat on Friday. It's important to come out of a timeout with a winning attitude and the ability to score points. These are what some analysts called "extra" points. You're either in the game or in a big lead, and the Nuggets have to do better not only with creating points but also coming out of the timeouts not giving up a bunch of points either.

The Warriors have big stars but they haven't been putting up a lot of points this season. They're 30.4 percent from the line and are allowing 111.3 points per 100 possessions. That's not the team we're used to seeing in recent seasons. But their lineup is still so versatile and can pass, handle, and shoot the ball. They can also defend as well. The lineup of Curry, Durant, Thompson, Iguodala, and Green have shown up they can do damage when they're in the zone, and for the Nuggets to win tonight, they have to keep this team out of the zone.

It's going to be a fun matchup in Denver tonight. I wish I actually stayed there through the weekend to watch this game, but unfortunately, I had to come home for work and I couldn't see this game. But I'm expecting a really close game, maybe a chance for the Nuggets to possibly put the Warriors in some kind of mix. But the thing is: That lineup for the Warriors will be playing tonight, unlike the last time these two teams played in Denver. And another big thing for Denver: They're playing back-to-back and both of those games are at home. Denver is going to make it a great game. I just think the Warriors are playing to get better right now, and I think when all five of the guys that I mentioned for the Warriors are on the floor, they are almost unstoppable. I think the Warriors handle business in Denver and they come out with a win.