2010 NBA Playoffs Preview: Nuggets vs. Jazz

Utah and Denver enter their first-round NBA playoff series boasting some of the best one-on-one match ups of the postseason. Chauncey Billups and Deron Williams are the floor leaders, and Carlos Boozer and Kenyon Martin figure to battle it out in the post, assuming both are healthy. The teams match up well across the board and finished the regular season with the exact same record, creating potential for this to be the postseason's tightest opening-round battle.

The Regular Season

Records: The teams finished the regular season with identical 53-29 records.
Season series: The Nuggets took the season series 3-1, winning the first three meetings between the teams to claim the tiebreaker and grab home-court advantage in the first-round playoff series.

Series Schedule
(All times Eastern)
Game 1: Saturday, April 17, Utah at Denver, 10:30 p.m.
Game 2: Monday, April 19, Utah at Denver, 10:30 p.m.
Game 3: Friday, April 23, Denver at Utah, 10:30 p.m.
Game 4: Sunday, April 25, Denver at Utah, 9:30 p.m.
Game 5: Wednesday, April 28, Utah at Denver, TBD (if necessary)
Game 6: Friday, April 30, Denver at Utah, TBD (if necessary)
Game 7: Sunday, May 2, Utah at Denver, TBD (if necessary)

Playoff History

Denver reached the playoffs for the seventh season in a row, the last five under coach George Karl. The Nuggets lost in the opening round five straight years before reaching the Western Conference Finals in 2008-09, where they lost 4-2 to the eventual NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers. Utah is in the postseason for the fourth consecutive year and the 17th time in 21 seasons under Hall of Fame coach Jerry Sloan. The Jazz lost 4-1 to the Lakers in the first round in 2008-09, 4-2 to the Lakers in the conference semifinals in 2007-08 and 4-1 to San Antonio in the conference finals in 2006-07.

The Jazz

The Jazz were great at home in 2009-10, going 32-9. Boozer was again a double-double machine during the regular season, averaging 19.5 points and 11.2 rebounds, but missed Utah's regular-season finale against Phoenix - a game the Suns won to clinch the No. 3 seed in the West and send the Jazz to the No. 4 seed - with a strained muscle in his ribcage. He is officially listed as questionable for the first game of the series, but the Jazz expect that he'll be ready to play. Physical point guard Deron Williams had another stellar season, earning his first All-Star game appearance with averages of 18.7 points and 10.5 assists. He'll have his work cut out trying to guard the Nuggets' Billups. Mehmet Okur (13.5 points per game), Andrei Kirilenko (11.9) and Paul Millsap (11.6) also averaged double-figure scoring for the Jazz. Kirilenko is another injury concern for the Jazz after missing 15 of Utah's last 17 regular-season games with a calf-muscle injury. C.J. Miles and Wesley Matthews chip in just under 10 points a game.

The Nuggets

Assistant coach Adrian Dantley has handled the coaching duties while Karl has been away due to cancer treatments, and according to ESPN.com, the Nuggets don't expect to get back Karl for this series. Carmelo Anthony is one of the league's more prolific scorers, averaging 28.2 points per game during the regular season to go with 6.6 rebounds. He also shoots, on average, 45.8 percent from the field and 83.0 percent from the free-throw line. Billups has an NBA Finals MVP under his belt, when he led the Detroit Pistons to the NBA title with a 4-1 series win over the Los Angeles Lakers in 2004. Billups averaged 19.5 points and 5.6 assists against just 2.42 turnovers during the regular season. J.R. Smith was third on the team with 15.5 points per game, and along with Billups, provides the Nuggets with a three-point-shooting threat. Martin has missed time with a knee injury but gives Denver a tough presence down low and averages 11.6 points and 9.5 rebounds per game. Nene scored 13.9 points per game and grabbed 7.7 rebounds, but stepped up his game against the Jazz, averaging 18.7 points in the Nuggets' three victories over Utah this season.

The Bottom Line

Denver has the slightest of edges in a series featuring great match ups and All-Star talent. Billups vs. Williams is intriguing, and if Boozer and Martin are healthy throughout the series, we're in for a treat with the power forward match up, as well. The pick: Nuggets advance in a six- or seven-game series.

Sources:
2009-10 Nuggets Regular Statistics, NBA
2009-10 Jazz Regular Statistics, NBA
Denver Nuggets Franchise Index, Basketball-Reference.com
Utah Jazz Franchise Index, Basketball-Reference.com