NUGGETS PROBABLE STARTERS POS. NO. PLAYER HEIGHT WEIGHT PPG RPG APG NOTABLE [imgl]http://espn-ak.starwave.com/i/nba/profiles/players/65x90/3706.jpg[/imgl] F 15 Carmelo Anthony 6-8, 230 30.4 6.0 4.2 Recorded 23 points (7-8 FT), six rebounds, two assists and two steals in 37 minutes vs. Orlando on 2/28. [IMGl]http://espn-ak.starwave.com/i/nba/profiles/players/65x90/3605.jpg[/IMGl] F 31 Nene 6-11, 260 11.2 6.0 1.0 Is shooting .582 (103-177) over his last 18 games. [IMGl]http://espn-ak.starwave.com/i/nba/profiles/players/65x90/3084.jpg[/IMGl] C 23 Marcus Camby 6-11, 235 11.5 11.7 3.3 Finished with 10 points, seven rebounds, six assists, a season-high five steals and three blocked shots on 2/28. [IMGl]http://espn-ak.starwave.com/i/nba/profiles/players/65x90/4199.jpg[/IMGl] G 5 Yakhouba Diawara 6-7, 225 4.8 2.0 0.9 Has averaged 11.5 ppg, 2.0 rpg and 2.0 apg in two games vs. Houston this season. [IMGl]http://espn-ak.starwave.com/i/nba/profiles/players/65x90/3094.jpg[/IMGl] G 3 Allen Iverson 6-0, 165 28.3 2.9 7.4 Scored 27 of his 34 points in the second half vs. Orlando on 2/28. ROCKETS PROBABLE STARTERS No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Col./Country/H.S. PPG RPG APG [IMGl]http://espn-ak.starwave.com/i/nba/profiles/players/65x90/3516.jpg[/IMGl] 31 Shane Battier F/G 6-8 220 Duke 10.6 4.2 2.3 [IMGl]http://espn-ak.starwave.com/i/nba/profiles/players/65x90/2628.jpg[/IMGl] 5 Juwan Howard F 6-9 253 Michigan 10.1 6.0 1.7 [IMGl]http://espn-ak.starwave.com/i/nba/profiles/players/65x90/0425.jpg[/IMGl] 55 Dikembe Mutombo C 7-2 260 Georgetown 3.5 7.1 0.2 [IMGl]http://espn-ak.starwave.com/i/nba/profiles/players/65x90/3179.jpg[/IMGl] 1 Tracy McGrady G/F 6-8 223 Mt. Zion Christian 24.5 5.3 6.1 [IMGl]http://espn-ak.starwave.com/i/nba/profiles/players/65x90/3282.jpg[/IMGl] 12 Rafer Alston G 6-2 175 Fresno State 13.7 3.3 5.3 NUGGETS RED CROSS REPORT OUT: Kenyon Martin underwent successful surgery on his right knee on 11/15 and will miss the remainder of the season J.R. Smith suffered a torn lateral meniscus in his left knee at San Antonio on 2/20 and had arthroscopic surgery on 2/21. He is expected to be out of the lineup for three to four weeks. ROCKETS RED CROSS REPORT Bob Sura (knee/back) Yao Ming (small fracture on right anterior medial tibial plateau). THE MATCHUP BY THE NUMBERS KEY FOR TEAM STATISTICS: PPG Points Per Game (measures offense) OPG Opponents Points Per Game (measures defense) FG% % of All Shots Made (2's and 3's) 3PT% % of 3-Point Shots Made FT% % of Free Throws Made RPG Rebounds Per Game APG Assists Per Game SPG Steals Per Game BPG Blocks Per Game TO Turnovers Per Game ...............PPG. OPG. FG% 3PT% FT% RPG APG. SPG. BPG. TO NUGGETS 105.1 104.1 .460 .324. .743 43.6 23.3 8.41 4.91 16.7 ROCKETS.. 95.7. 90.8 .443 .373. .743 43.2 20.4 7.23 4.35 14.6
Great preview. I don't see the Rockets winning this one. Battier may effectively cause Anthony to have a bad game but Alston is nowhere fast enough to guard Iverson. The Rockets could try to bring John Lucas III off the bench to keep up with AI but I doubt it would work. Houston's best chance for winning would be fore McGrady to have a big game and Bonzi Wells draw the Denver forwards into foul trouble.
Denver should not have a problem in this game. They have a mismatch at almost every position. Time to start beating more than a couple mediocre eastern conference teams.
