Analyst Chris Dempsey prefers OKC Thunder – Nuggets first round series
Tough seeding schedule could factor large for Denver
In the restart, Denver will face three seeded in this 2-7 group including the OKC Thunder, Jazz, and Clippers. Moreover, only the Lakers have a harder eight games based on win percentage of the teams they’ll play.
Their eight seeding games are as follows:
- Heat – August 1 at 1:00 p.m.
- OKC Thunder – August 3 at 4:00 p.m.
- Spurs – August 5 at 4:00 p.m.
- Blazers – August 6 at 8:00 p.m.
- Jazz – August 8 at 3:30 p.m.
- Lakers – August 10 at 9:00 p.m.
- Clippers – August 12 at 9:00 p.m.
- Raptors – August 14 (TBD)
The Nuggets broadcast crew repeatedly discussed these eight games stating the final three games versus the two LA teams and Raptors could end up being games that don’t matter. They implied all three teams could have secured their seeds by game six and might not bother playing their stars at that point. And, they also implied Denver may have secured their seed (presuming they mean third or second).
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The interesting part of the equation is the Nuggets will play some tough games early especially the first five matches while teams are jockeying for seeding.
The Heat wants to catch the Celtics and put distance between themselves and the Pacers/76ers. The Thunder for obvious reasons will be all-in to win as both teams play the second match against one another. Games three and four feature the Spurs and Blazers in a back-to-back set with both opponents trying to move up to the eighth or ninth seeds. And, depending on how the Pacers have fared the fifth game could matter for their objective to catch the Heat and distance themselves from the 76ers.
In addition, four of the Nuggets’ initial five games have early start times between 1:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. That’s not a start time most teams typically play at other than an occasional weekend matinee.