[Izulde]

It's great to be back in the playoffs, better still to end up as the #1 seed for the second year in a row. Even without Tim Davis, I still think we've got a shot.

As usual, the article:

"It's been a miraculous season in Denver, where the Nuggets still finished with the best record in the entire league despite losing starting center Tim Davis for the year. But the playoffs are a whole new ballgame and the Denver will certainly be challenged, even against the modestly .500 Jazz.

Point Guard
Zelipe Gama vs. A.J. Dunkley
Gama blossomed this season, becoming a full-time starter for the first time since 2012 with the Spurs and earning an All-Star nod after he was dealt to the Nuggets as part of the Davis trade. He's invigorated Denver's offense and is the perfect passing machine, yet also capable of scoring if needed. 11.8 points per game, 9.9 assists, 3.8 rebounds, 1.3 blocks and 1.4 steals indicate that he's a very good all-around player and a really pleasant surprise for Denver.

Dunkley's a better scorer than Gama and averaged 14.9 points a game in the regular season. He also averaged 8.5 assists and 1.1 steals and is in truth a better passer than the Spainard. This is going to be a very intriguing matchup to watch.

Advantage: Draw

Shooting Guard
Mateen Yeaton vs. Deron Williams
Another All-Star star for Yeaton and some terrific play down the stretch erased his early-season struggles. He showed last year that he can be a clutch playoff performer, but as always, the big question is: Can he stay healthy? His staying in good shape is even more important with Davis gone for the year.

Age is starting to show on Williams, but he still averaged 17.6 points, 5 assists and 1.6 steals in the regular season. His wizardy with passing the ball will be important if Utah hopes to win the series. Unfortunately for the Jazz, he's facing a size mismatch against Yeaton and his defense is declining as well.

Advantage: Nuggets

Small Forward
Ron McPherson vs. Andrei Kirilenko
GM Jestor has coveted McPherson ever since the 2013 draft and he went out and got him this offseason. The end result? 16.6 points and one of the best defensive SFs in the league. The biggest difference between McPherson and last year's starting SF, Patrick Pastner? Pastner struggled to break 40% shooting, whereas McPherson is shooting 47%. If there's a weakness in his game, it's that he's a horrible rebounder.

Kirilenko has the size and height needed to contain McPherson, though and even at 34 years old, he's still the league's single best defender and should win another Defensive Player of the Year award. His 12.1 points and 6.2 rebounds is just an extra bonus on top of it.

Advantage: Draw

Power Forward
Emeka Okafor vs. Carlos Boozer
The Nuggets team captain really stepped up in a big way after Davis went down and finished the regular season averaging 11.2 points, 8.9 rebounds and 2.1 blocks. He'll be called upon to again provide superlative defense, shotblocking and rebounding and the pressure will be on him to give Denver some semblance of an inside offensive game.

Boozer shows no signs of slowing down, averaging an amazing 18.7 points, 8.1 rebounds and 1.3 steals in the regular season at 34. He can't block a shot to save his life, though and his defense is merely average. That said, he's a dangerous weapon and this matchup, along with the one at PG, will go a long way to determining who wins the series. Unstoppable force/immovable object.

Advantage: Draw

Center
Antawn Jamison vs. Andris Biedrins
Without a doubt, the most bizzare thing about this entire playoffs. The top seed in the entire NBA has a 39 year old SF as their starting C. That said, Jamison's provided a surprising burst of points for the Nuggets, but he's atrocious in every other aspect of the game and is hideous on defense.

Biedrins averaged 9.7 points and 11.1 rebounds in the regular season and has to be salivating at the prospect of going against Jamison. He's a phenomenal rebounder, good at drawing the foul and his offensive game should take off given the gross mismatch in size, height and talent at the position.

Advantage: Jazz

Bench
Denver boasts two starting quality guards in Kirk Hinrich and Brandon Brooks, both of whom averaged 7 points a game in the regular season. Hinrich and Brooks are also both excellent passers who play very good defense. Thabo Sefolosha is another defensive stalwart who's known for his clutch showings in the postseason. Forward Mike Nooner, a late-season pickup from the D-League, is yet another quality defender, who's been a pleasant surprise with his point scoring and rebounding.

Utah relies on 38 year old Vince Carter and 37 year old Mike Bibby to provide the bench scoring at 6.3 points and 5.7 points a game respectively. Against the Nuggets' cadre of warrior defenders, that's going to be a tall order. Bobby Simmons is the best all-around player on the bench and the lone Jazz reserve besides rookie Leroy Freeman (ironically Denver's selection in the lottery this last season), who appears to have any clue on defense.

Advantage: Nuggets

Final Thoughts
If Biedrins was an offensive giant on the level of, say, Dallas's Jonte Jones, this series would be very, very close, maybe even favoring the Jazz. But the starting five battles are so close, with the exception of Yeaton/Williams and Jamison/Biedrins, that Denver's punishing, iron-willed bench will simply wear Utah out and make this a pretty short series.
Prediction: Nuggets in 5"

Thanks for the vote of confidence.

Game One
That ferocious defense is there in full force as we hold the Jazz to 32.9% from the floor and 3 of 17 from 3-point range. With that kind of tenacity, 31 points from Mateen Yeaton and 10 points and 10 assists from Zelipe Gama are all we need. We were so stifling that not a single Utah player deserves recognition.
Final - Utah 73 Denver 96

Game Two
Fantastic game by Mateen Yeaton with 25 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, 5 blocks and 2 steals. He's joined by Ron McPherson's matching 25 points and we again hold the Jazz to under 40% shooting (37.7) and again, nobody on Utah's side plays well enough to get a mention.
Final - Utah 79 Denver 93

Game Three
I expected a tougher challenge out of the Jazz when the series shifts to Utah and I get it. Carlos Boozer finally breaks out of the Okafor Vise to score 21 points. Deron Williams likewise heated up for 26 points and Andris Biedrins doubled with 13 points and 11 rebounds. But it wasn't enough as Mateen Yeaton snuffed out the Utah inferno with 36 points. Ron McPherson added a Jazz-cooling 22 points and Zelipe Gama provided the icing with 12 points and 15 assists. Utah's now on the brink and I don't see any chance of their coming back.
Final - Denver 112 Utah 102

Game Four
A sweep would be wonderful, as the more games we play, the more chance of an injury. Utah brings a beautiful performance out of their starting set, all five players scoring at least 12 points. Carlos Boozer had 17 points and 10 rebounds, while A.J. Dunkley contributed 19 points and 10 assists. Alas for the Jazz, Mateen Yeaton scores 33 points, Zelipe Gama goes gangbusters with 25 points and 12 assists and Lindsey Williamson comes up with a pleasing 10 bench points. Net result is a crushing victory and a terrific sweep.
Final - Denver 114 Utah 95

The best part of it all is that we're at full strength going into the next round.

Three of the four series in the first round were sweeps in the West. Us over Utah, the Lakers against the Kings and the Grizzlies versus the Rockets. The Trailblazers are locked in a 2-2 draw with the Spurs for the final series in our conference.

Out East, everything is at 3-1.

Orlando, while the higher seed, pulls off an upset by beating the defending champion Pistons in 5 games. Indiana punted the Bucks in five as well and the 76ers did the same to the Celtics.

For the first time since I've been in the league, all the higher seeds advance in the opening round. Toronto ousts the pesky Bobcats in 6 and the Traiblazers beat back the Spurs in the same number of games.

The second round is going to be a lot rougher matchup for us, because now is when we start going against teams with legitimate centers.