Why the Nuggets Are One of the Best Teams In the West
The Denver Nuggets play the Boston Celtics tonight in Denver. The Denver Nuggets are likely an overlooked western conference contender because of the injuries to Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. They are only the sixth seed right now. Still, if they had all of their guys, they would have a solid chance to go to the finals.
There have been reports recently that there is a decent likelihood that Murray and Porter could return for the playoffs. The Phoenix Suns went to the Finals last year, and they are currently the first seed.
So it would be no surprise if the Suns win the west in the playoffs. If Stephen Curry is able to go (he might be out for the season), the Warriors have one of the best teams in the NBA. The Grizzlies are the second seed, and the Jazz are also in the mix. But again if fully healthy, Denver would be highly difficult for any of these teams to beat in a seven-game series.
Why the Celtics Are One of the Best Teams In the East
In the Eastern Conference, either the star-studded Brooklynn Nets or Philadelphia 76ers are probably the favorite contenders. There’s also the Milwaukee Bucks and the Miami Heat, gritty teams with recent Finals experience.
Lost in the shuffle is the Boston Celtics who have moved from the ninth seed in February to the fourth seed in the East. They have played extremely well lately, and this is a great time in the season to get hot. Boston could surprise a lot of people in the playoffs.
Why This Is a Key Matchup
It will be fun to watch Nikola Jokic and Jayson Tatem go head to head as they are both playing especially well. This is an intriguing matchup overall because both of these teams are overlooked in their respective conferences, but are highly capable of beating any team. It is a dark-horse NBA Finals matchup. With the injuries to the Nuggets, the Celtics should be the favorite in this game. However, Denver has been playing great lately as well. So this should be a great game.
