Denver Nuggets vs. San Antonio Spurs playoff cheat sheet
Taking a closer look at the first-round playoff series between the Denver Nuggets and San Antonio Spurs
Records:
Nuggets: 54-28
Spurs: 48-34
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Regular Season Series:
Tied 2-2
Avg. Score: Nuggets 105.25, Spurs 99.75
Summary: The Nuggets come into the playoffs with a lot of questions regarding if they are a true threat to the Warriors or if it’s still just the Rockets. Denver did go 5-6 in its last 11 games but one of those five wins came against the Spurs. San Antonio was thought to be a team that would be on the outside of the playoff race this season but once again the playoffs are starting and the Spurs are playing.
Stats:
PPG
Nuggets: 110.7
Spurs: 111.7
OFF RTG
Nuggets: 113.0
Spurs: 112.9
Pace
Nuggets: 97.7
Spurs: 98.3
OPP PPG
Nuggets: 106.7
Spurs: 110.0
DEF RTG
Nuggets: 108.9
Spurs: 111.2
FG%
Nuggets: 46.6
Spurs: 47.8
3FG%
Nuggets: 35.1
Spurs: 39.2
EFG%
Nuggets: 52.7
Spurs: 53.4
Tov%
Nuggets: 11.9
Spurs: 11.0
X-Factors:
Nuggets: Nikola Jokic
Jokic played like a MVP candidate this season and was a big part of the Nuggets earning the No.2 seed in the playoffs. If Denver wants to make it far in the playoffs they cant afford for him to have off nights or foul trouble. Jokic was mostly great against the Spurs as he had two double-doubles but he did have a four point performance vs the Spurs in a loss on 12/26.
Spurs: LaMarcus Aldridge
Aldridge will be matched up on Jokic a lot so the winner of that battle could go a long way in deciding the series. Aldridge was a all-star this season for the second straight year. He scored at least 16 points in each game vs Denver and never shot less than 50% from the field.
dark. Next. NBA Playoff Roundtable: Upsets, bold predictions and our Finals picks
Prediction: Nuggets in 7
This series has the makings of a tightly contested seven game series. Three of the four meetings were decided by single digits and we could see this series play out like that. Denver has the better team so that should be able to win this series even if it goes the distance.