понедельник, 17 сентября 2012 г.

NUGGETS TAKING SHOW ON ROAD THREE-GAME SWING STARTS TONIGHT WITH DATE WITH ATLANTA.(Sports) - Rocky Mountain News (Denver, CO)

Byline: Aaron J. Lopez

ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS

Back in the day, as old-school NBA coaches like to say, life on the road was full of adventure and fraught with unpredictability.

Commercial flights. Pre-dawn wake-up calls for game-day departures. Three games on successive nights.

The advent of day-in-advance charter flights and the abolition of back-to-back-to-back court dates have taken much of the stress out of NBA travel, but the road remains hazardous for the Denver Nuggets.

The sign above the entrance to the Pepsi Center reminds visitors that life is different at 5,280 feet, but it also provides the figurative distance the Nuggets tend to fall when playing in arenas outside Colorado.

Never in its long history has Denver finished a season with a winning road record, and it has been nearly eight years since the Nuggets won three consecutive games away from home. The new and improved Nuggets, with a modest two-game road win streak, are out to change all that.

``They call the past the past for a reason,'' coach Jeff Bzdelik said Monday.

Beginning with tonight's game against the Atlanta Hawks, Denver (13-7) faces three Eastern Conference teams whose early-season resumes are peppered with flaws.

The Hawks (6-15), seemingly in a perpetual state of flux, have lost four in a row and are soaring well below even the modest standards associated with Eastern teams.

Philadelphia (11-10) and New York (7-14), Denver's destinations Friday and Saturday, are part of an Atlantic Division in which hovering around .500 might be enough to contend for first place.

``Certainly when you go out East, you want to try to get as many of those as you can,'' Nuggets guard Jon Barry said. ``Atlanta's a team that's down right now. Philly's around .500 and New York is under .500, so those are games that are winnable games.''

When it comes to Denver's miserable road history, ``winnable'' is a relative term, but the Nuggets have been full of surprises this season.

Thus far, they have followed through on their promise to push the pace, averaging 97.9 points a game. They have re-established a home presence by winning eight of 10 games at the Pepsi Center and they are contenders in the Midwest Division.

With four wins in nine road dates, Denver also has matched its road victory total from last season, and it has a legitimate chance to sweep on a trip of at least three games for the first time since taking four in a row during a West Coast swing in March 1988.

``We're playing teams we know we should beat,'' center Marcus Camby said, ``but it's always tough playing on the road.''

Atlanta, Philadelphia and New York have not been particularly kind to the Nuggets, whose combined record in those three cities in the past three seasons is 1-8.

The Hawks own Denver in Atlanta, having won the past 13 meetings in Georgia, but the Nuggets have added incentive after losing to the struggling Boston Celtics at home Sunday night.

``If we aspire to be into the playoff race late into the year, then every game is so meaningful to us,'' Bzdelik said. ``We stumbled, now we're going to see how we react.''

After watching the Celtics score 116 points on the strength of .500 shooting, Bzdelik emphasized defense during a pre-practice film session Monday. The Nuggets will try to implement those principles during their longest trip this season.

``Our defense has slipped a little bit,'' Barry said. ``When you're on the road, you've really got to defend. You hate to get into 110-, 115-point games on the road because it just seems to be tougher.''

Camby, a key element of Denver's interior defense, sat idle for the final 17 minutes of Sunday's loss, which snapped the Nuggets' six-game winning streak.

Camby missed two games last week because of a groin strain, but the injury was not a factor in Bzdelik's decision to keep him on the bench during crunch time.

``It's up to me to try to push the right button at the right time,'' Bzdelik said. ``I make those decisions, whether they're right or they're wrong. Obviously, (Sunday), I didn't push the right buttons.''

ETC: Atlanta shooting guard Stephen Jackson will not play after being suspended Monday for conduct detrimental to the team. He is averaging 13.1 points a game. . . NBA officials honored Denver's request to review a play involving Chris Andersen and Golden State forward Brian Cardinal, but they have taken no disciplinary action.

INFOBOX

Nuggets at Hawks

* When: 5:30 MST tonight.

* Where: Philips Arena, Atlanta.

* TV/radio: Fox Sports Net. KKFN-AM (950).

* Starting lineups:

Denver (13-7) ....Pos.....Ht.....Pts..... 15 Carmelo Anthony....F....6-8....18.8

31 Nene....F ....6-11....12.1

23 Marcus Camby....C....6-11....5.2

1 Voshon Lenard....G....6-4....14.7

24 Andre Miller....G....6-2....15.1

Head coach: Jeff Bzdelik Atlanta (6-15)....Pos.....Ht.....Pts..... 32 Boris Diaw....G....6-5....3.6

3 Shrf Abdur-Rahim....F....6-9....20.7

41 Theo Ratliff....C....6-10....6.5

32 Dion Glover....G....6-5....12.5

31 Jason Terry....G....6-2....18.5

Head coach: Terry Stotts * Injuries: Denver - F Mark Pope (knee), G Jeff Trepagnier (ankle), injured list. Atlanta - G Terrell Brandon (leg), F Obinna Ekezie (knee), F Alan Henderson (back), injured list.

* Notes: Denver's six-game winning streak came to an end with a 116-111 loss Sunday to Boston at the Pepsi Center, but the Nuggets remain tied with Dallas for first place in the Midwest Division . . . Boston's point total was the most Denver has given up this season, so Bzdelik emphasized defense in practice Monday . . . The Hawks will be without guard Stephen Jackson, suspended for one game for conduct detrimental to the team . . . The Nuggets have won two consecutive road games, but they have lost 13 in a row and 16 of their past 17 at Atlanta . . . Abdur-Rahim scored 43 points Saturday, but the Hawks lost 95-85 at Cleveland . . . Atlanta has lost four in a row.

* Nuggets statistics

........Min.....Reb.....Ast.....Pts..... No.....Player....GP....avg.....avg.....avg.....avg.

15....Anthony....20....35.3....6.9....3.1....18.8.... 24....Miller....20....31.9....4.5....6.0....15.1.... 1....Lenard....18....29.3....2.9....2.1....14.7.... 31....Nene....15....32.5....7.5....1.5....12.1.... 11....Boykins....20....24.0....2.0....4.0....12.0.... 20....Barry....20....22.6....2.6....2.8....7.6.... 5....White....14....12.2....2.7....0.9....6.9.... 56....Elson....19....19.4....5.2....0.6....5.6.... 23....Camby....18....24.1....9.4....0.9....5.2.... 12....Andersen....19....15.5....4.0....0.5....4.2.... 22....Tskitishvili....13....9.3....1.5....0.5....3.8.... 32....Bowen....18....8.2....2.1....0.4....1.0.... 4....*Trepagnier....0....0.0....0.0....0.0....0.0....41....*Pope....0....0.0.. ..0.0....0.0....0.0........Totals....20....241.3....46.1....21.9....97.9.... * Injured list

CAPTION(S):

Photo

Nuggets point guard Andre Miller fights for a loose ball against Celtics forward Vin Baker during the first half on Sunday night at the Pepsi Center. Miller finished with 15 points but the Nuggets were defeated by Boston 116-111. Denver begins a three-game trip tonight in Atlanta. EVAN SEMON / ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS