By now, everyone has had a sip of the Chauncey Billups kool aid. He has certainly made a world of difference with this Nuggets squad. He came out and set the tone in Games 1 & 2 vs. New Orleans in Round 1, scoring 30+ in both games. His production points-wise tailed off as the series progressed, but a lot of that had to do with Carmelo Anthony taking over. Billups still surpassed today's number in 3 of the 5 games in Round 1 and narrowly missed a 4th with 20. Faily impressive when you consider there was only one close game in the series.
This match-up with Dallas should be a good one for Billups. He has the speed to outduel Jason Kidd and the size to match-up favorably with Barrea or Terry, possibly getting some post-up opportunities. Billups regular season vs. the Mavericks went like this. He had 15 pts/4 rebounds in their first meeting. 15 & 5 in the 2nd meeting. 23 & 3 in the 3rd and then just 5 & 2 the last time they met in March. For me, I think Billups is going to set the tone & tempo for Denver as he did in Round 1. I think he'll look to get Melo off, but will also take advantage of the various match-ups that he is presented with. He also must continue to drive the ball and get to the free throw line. He did a great job of that early in the New Orleans series.
The closer Dallas keeps this game, the better as that means more minutes with the ball in Billups' hands. Since it's Game 1, not going heavy here, but still fairly confident this has a good shot.
-115 at my book
This match-up with Dallas should be a good one for Billups. He has the speed to outduel Jason Kidd and the size to match-up favorably with Barrea or Terry, possibly getting some post-up opportunities. Billups regular season vs. the Mavericks went like this. He had 15 pts/4 rebounds in their first meeting. 15 & 5 in the 2nd meeting. 23 & 3 in the 3rd and then just 5 & 2 the last time they met in March. For me, I think Billups is going to set the tone & tempo for Denver as he did in Round 1. I think he'll look to get Melo off, but will also take advantage of the various match-ups that he is presented with. He also must continue to drive the ball and get to the free throw line. He did a great job of that early in the New Orleans series.
The closer Dallas keeps this game, the better as that means more minutes with the ball in Billups' hands. Since it's Game 1, not going heavy here, but still fairly confident this has a good shot.
-115 at my book