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They didn’t play enough defense. They had too many thugs. They didn’t have enough heart.
Denver proved the pessimists wrong by tying a franchise record with 54 wins and winning the Northwest Division. But after five straight first-round flops, there were plenty of people who still wondered whether they could make much noise in the playoffs.
Even now, after identical 4-1 knockouts of New Orleans and Dallas, the Nuggets are considered but a nuisance as NBA observers predict an inevitable showdown between Kobe Bryant’s Lakers and LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
"Somebody asked us about the Kobe-LeBron matchup and if it gives us extra incentive. It definitely does,’’ said Smith. "That’s not the matchup we want to see. We want to see us and whoever else.’’
At this point, why not the Nuggets? It’s not like they don’t have a championship pedigree. Billups won an NBA title with the Detroit Pistons in 2004. Anthony won the NCAA title in 2003 and helped Team USA win the Olympic gold medal in Beijing last summer.
On a roster filled with comeback stories, Anthony remains the poster boy for adversity.
He was the symbol of selfishness that doomed the 2004 U.S. Olympic team before finding redemption in 2008. He regularly has been lauded for his maturity in the past few years, only to slip up occasionally on the court (refusing to come out of a game on March 1) and off the court (a DUI in April of 2007).
Anthony now finds himself two games from the NBA Finals. He has seen too many ups and downs to get satisfied with a gut-check win against the Lakers in Game 4.
"We feel like we’re one of the better teams,’’ Anthony said. "I don’t want to say we feel we’re better than the Lakers. We’ve got to prove that. We haven’t proved that yet until this series is over.’’
For Anthony and his teammates, the remaining challenge ahead is right up their alley. After all, proving themselves has pretty much become second nature.
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