[Izulde]

This is the first time since I've carried an NBA team to a #1 seed and there's a ton of pressure that comes with the top ranking. Even more so in this year's case, when the media says it should've been the Lakers who received first billing, even though they were upset in the first round last year by the Kings.

And yet, I feel really, really good about this team. Are we good enough to win the title? Well, I don't know about that. I mean, there's still the Raptors in the East, hungry to avenge themselves of narrowly losing the chance to defend their title last season and the West has a number of good teams in the playoffs this year.

But I think there's a good chance we can maybe get back to the Finals...

"The smartest thing GM Jestor did was to trade away Kyle Smith to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Probable Top 10 pick in the next draft and extra 2017 1st rounder aside, shifting Smith allowed Mateen Yeaton to move to his natural SG position and ushered in the era of Brandon Brooks at PG. The offense flourished under the change and the defense was particularly effective for most of the season. Denver ended the year on a 12-game winning streak to steal the top seed away from the Lakers and they're on fire right now.

But one certainly can't discount the Timberwolves, not when Minnesota has traditionally played Denver tough and not when the T-Wolves are hungry to avenge late-season embarassments and replicate Sacramento's feat last season.

Point Guard
Brandon Brooks vs. Major Drayton
Brooks is a clockwork 11-12 point, 9 assist average guy in the regular season year in and year out. He runs the Nuggets offense extremely well and is a very good defender. The big question: How will he react to the glare of the playoff spot? His last and only postseason appearance was in 2009 with Portland and he was extremely underwhelming in the five-game opening round loss.

Drayton's a lot like Brooks, with two noticeable exceptions. First, he's nowhere near as good a defender, though he does have playmaking ability with stealing the ball that Brooks doesn't have. Secondly, he's proven that he can be a solid playoff performer, a trait that makes this position matchup much more even than it might otherwise be.

Advantage: Draw

Shooting Guard
Mateen Yeaton vs. Monta Ellis
Yeaton showed off a consistency this year that he's lacked in previous seasons and the All-Star starter looks particularly intense and focused. While his defense is generally considered average, his ability to steal the ball and his 6'8 height that gives him the major advantage in shotblocking make Mateen dangerous on the defensive end. But after averaging a disappointing 18.8 points in last year's playoffs, he has to prove that he can be a true postseason warrior.

Ellis averaged a career high 16.2 points a game in the regular season, but he's clearly outclassed in every way against Yeaton. Unlike last year, when the Nuggets star had to go up against good one-on-one defenders in San Antonio's Joe Johnson and Dallas's Josh Howard, Ellis is only average and furthermore, gives up 5 inches to Yeaton.

Advantage: Denver

Small Forward
Patrick Pastner vs. Kevin Garnett
Pastner drew a lot of fire for his poor shot selection in recent years, with the result that he focused on improving it this season and had career highs in points per game with 16.1 and FG % with 41.2. He's a very good all-around player, but not really exceptional in any area, either.

At 38 years old, Garnett's lost a few steps and averaged a career-worst 13.1 points in the regular season. But don't count KG out, as he's still a sharp defender with excellent rebounding technique and, unlike Pastner, he knows how to be patient with his shots. He likely can't take over a game anymore like he could in his prime, but underestimate him at your own peril.

Advantage: Draw

Power Forward
Emeka Okafor vs. Kelvin Moody
Okafor's role in the Nuggets offense is clearly defined: Play exceptional defense, gobble up rebounds, block shots and if you get some points, great. Okafor just missed a double-double this year, averaging 10.9 points and a career-high 9.6 rebounds. He's going to be an important part of Denver's interior defense.

There's no question Moody's one of the biggest stars in the league at 25. He averaged 20.5 points, 11.5 rebounds and 3 blocks in the regular season, besting Okafor's 2.5 average rejections. He's a prolific scorer and has taken over Garnett as Minnesota's primary offensive option. In addition, he's one of the best rebounders in the league. His defense is above average, but nowhere near Okafor's brilliance.

Advantage: Minnesota

Center
Dan Jacobson vs. Kyle Jordan
10.4 was a magical number for Jacobson this year, as he averaged both 10.4 points and 10.4 rebounds in the regular season, his second straight season of a double-double average. He's an excellent defender and shotblocker, a very good rebounder, and, more frighteningly for Denver's opponents, he continues to work hard at improving his offensive game, even though the averaged out numbers don't necessarily show it.

Jordan's a great shotblocker that uses his burly size (282 lbs) and great technique to make up for his lack of height at 6'9", is a very good rebounder in his own right and finds ways to score points around the rim, having averaged 10 points a game for the past three seasons. That said, he's still much shorter than the 7'3 Jacobson, even if he is bigger in terms of proportion (Jacobson weighs in at 290) and he's merely average on defense.

Advantage: Denver

Bench
Kirk Hinrich averaged 6.7 points, but the number's misleading, as he was an end of the bench player while Kyle Smith is on the team. He's one of the best 6th men in the league and could start at either guard spot for a vast number of teams. He's an offensive sparkplug, both in terms of points and in running the offense. Phillip Gill still hasn't fulfilled his considerable potential, but the 22 year old 4th year player shows flashes of brilliance, particularly in scoring and rebounding, to keep hoping that he'll reach it someday. Thabo Sefolosha and Steven Caspers are the stoppers on the bench. Sefolosha, much-loved by the Nuggets front office for years, is a proven playoff performer, while Caspers is one of the most underrated reserves in the NBA, able to play good defense and provide an occasional outpouring of points.

Former Nugget Caron Butler and fellow Racinian to Denver GM Jestor averaged a breathtaking 13.8 points a game and can play every postion except C. He's a skilled ballthief and plays good defense as well. Jarrod Owens is arguably the best defender in the league not starting and Bobby Simmons is another very good, versatile defender.

Advantage: Draw

Final Thoughts
The problem for Minnesota is that it appears they don't have enough offense. Kelvin Moody will get his points and Kevin Garnett could do well with the motivation that his career's in its twilight, but outside of those two and Caron Butler, there's really nowhere to generate the points needed to overcome a glaring mismatch at SG, where the Nuggets just happen to have their best shooter in Mateen Yeaton or the ability of Patrick Pastner and Brandon Brooks to at any time cut loose with a barrage of 20 points. And then there's the problem at C, where Kyle Jordan is going to have a hellish series against Dan Jacobson. While the Timberwolves have the defensive ability on the bench to reduce Denver's reserves to a trickle offensively, the disparity in the starting fives is simply too much.
Prediction: Denver in 5

I'm glad they think we'll do so well. To be honest, I have to say this matchup does generally favor us and maybe this series can be a confidence booster for Mateen Yeaton.

Game One
Awful. Simply awful. When 2 of your starters score 5 points or less, you know it's going to be a long night. And it was, even though Mateen Yeaton scored 21 and Kirk Hinrich added 15 points off the bench. Major Drayton shredded us for 28 points and 12 assists, Kyle Jordan embarrased Dan Jacobson with 21 points and 10 rebounds, Kelvin Moody netted 17 points and 12 rebounds and Caron Butler finished off the beating with 11 points as the leading Timberwolf reserve. This is probably the most god-awful game I've ever seen any of my teams play in the postseason.
Final - Minnesota 104 Denver 86

Game Two
We'd better snap out of it here. Leaving Denver with a 2-0 hole would put a huge crimp in our plans to show we deserve the top seed. Monta Ellis scores 22 points and Kyle Jordan continues to look ridiculously good with 13 points and 16 rebounds, but our defense otherwise shuts Minnesota down. Patrick Pastner double-doubled with 15 points and 10 rebounds and Mateen Yeaton led us with 19 points, but the real key to this victory was holding the Timberwolves to 37.2% shooting and having all five starters score at least 10 points. A critical series evener, to be sure.
Final - Minnesota 76 Denver 91

Game Three
After how iffy we've played at home, I'm dreading the Target Center. What follows is the closest game of the series thus far, the Timberwolves feeding off the home crowd for a furious fourth quarter rally. Monta Ellis scored 25, Major Drayton dished out 10 points and 13 assists and Kelvin Moody highlighted with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Minnesota also held 3 of our starters to under 10 points and no Denver subs scored double-digits. So how did it end, you ask? Mateen Yeaton took over and had his finest postseason hour, rising above them all for 31 points and Brandon Brooks was his faithful sidekick with 20 points and 10 assists. We withstood the T-Wolf rage and came away with a momentum-changing four-point victory and the series lead.
Final - Denver 98 Minnesota 94

Game Four
The beauty of our backcourt continued, Mateen Yeaton scoring a masterful 30 points, but the real breathtaking performance was that of Utah Sixer Brandon Brooks, who orchestrated a near triple-double of 24 points, 13 assists, 9 rebounds, a block and a steal. They were the court-dancing pair, the celestial great ones on this starry night, as the only other noteworthy performance on either side was 15 points by Caron Butler as the Timberwolves 6th man. Two heroes accomplishing great things on their quest for playoff redemption, three Denver victories and just one more win needed to close out the round.
Final - Denver 97 Minnesota 85

In the rest of the playoff landscape, Toronto dispatches traditional playoff upstart Charlotte in four games and the Utah Jazz guarantee an all-Northwest second round by strangling our old nemesis, the Dallas Mavericks, in a surprising sweep. Of the rest, I dare not speak at this time.

Game Five
A wolf, when cornered, will put up the sort of fight that imperils the life of its opponent. Now imagine an entire pack of Timberwolves fighting for their playoff lives and for Kevin Garnett's quest for a ring. Kelvin Moody was brilliant with 19 points, 18 rebounds and 6 blocks, Monta Ellis had his third 20+ point game of the series with 24, Major Drayton landed 13 points and 10 assists and Jarrod Owens provided 12 points off the bench. Minnesota led us for three quarters of play and things looked headed for a Game 6, maybe even a Game 7. But Brandon Brooks would not brook that, scoring 22 points in the game and Phillip Gill picked the perfect time to break out with a 12 point, 10 rebound cavalry performance. We thundered back in the fourth quarter of play and broke the state of Minnesota's heart in stealing victory by a single point. So much for a Timberwolf miracle. We, the Nuggets, long for our golden glory and will let no one stop us.
Final - Minnesota 91 Denver 92

The defending champion Celtics betray their fluke title by falling to the Bucks in five, but that result and our own triumph over the Timberwolves mean nothing.

Because the world is asking one question.

Whither the lustre once the birthright of the Purple and Gold?

The Lakers, long considered the NBA's royalty, are dethroned again, upset for the second consecutive season in the first round. The Rockets take off for the 4-1 upset, leaving the Lakers organization, their fans, and the basketball world to ponder if the ages of Showtime I and II majesty are now merely cobwebbed history.

All the other series go to the full limit. Miami beats Orlando in seven games and I'm shocked it took the Heat that long, considering how heavily favored they were. Detroit, who I thought a humongous paper tiger, just barely edge past the 76ers. And finally, San Antonio pulls off the upset in knocking out the defending West conference champion Grizzlies.

Even with the Lakers gone, the road ahead is not going to be easy. But I can sleep tonight knowing we avoid one of our two mortal enemies in the second round.