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Nuggets-Thunder Preview

Apr 7, 2010 - 6:21 AM By MATT BEARDMORE STATS Writer

Denver (50-27) at Oklahoma City (48-29), 8:00 p.m. EDT

In a logjam in the Western Conference standings, the Denver Nuggets could benefit from having their coach and top rebounder and defender available. On Wednesday in Oklahoma City, the Nuggets might also need a replacement for their acting head coach.

Just one-half game off the Northwest Division lead, Denver looks to keep pace in the standings as it takes on a Thunder team trying to do the same.

With coach George Karl expected to be out through the first round of the playoffs as he fights throat and neck cancer and Kenyon Martin possibly sidelined for the rest of the season with patellar tendinitis in his left knee, the Nuggets (50-27) might be without acting head coach Adrian Dantley, who missed Tuesday's practice with a kidney stone.

Nuggets assistant John Welch helped run practice and could take over for Dantley, who is 8-6 in Karl's absence.

"It's something that is just tough that we're going through, but those are the cards we've been dealt and we've just got to continue to play them," Chauncey Billups said. "We can't hang our heads and say, 'Man, what are we going to do now?"

The Nuggets could have asked themselves that Saturday, but they rallied from a 21-point first-half deficit and defeated the Los Angeles Clippers 98-90 for their second straight win after losing five of six.

"We won the game, but you don't like to start off the game playing like that," Dantley said after the team's largest comeback since battling from 25 down in a 113-106 victory at Indiana on Nov. 10, 2007. "That's not good basketball. We just can't continue to do that. Why spot a team that many points at the beginning of the game? Happy we won, but you just can't do that on a regular basis."

A slow start against an Oklahoma City team averaging 119.2 points on 50.4 percent shooting in the last five games might not be the best idea.

Tied with San Antonio for sixth in the West standings and just one game ahead of eighth-place Portland, the Thunder (48-29) return to the Ford Center following Tuesday's 140-139 overtime loss at Utah.

Trying to counter Deron Williams' go-ahead jumper with 1.1 seconds left and extend Oklahoma City's four-game winning streak, Kevin Durant argued with referees that he was fouled by C.J. Miles on his 3-point attempt before the buzzer. Durant made a career-high seven 3s and scored 45 before the miss.

"The referee didn't call a foul. You have to go with him. He had a better look than I had," said Thunder coach Scott Brooks. "Sometimes you get those. Sometimes you don't. We had a good opportunity to win the game. We didn't get a stop. That's the bottom line."

Stopping Durant could be a problem for Denver. With consecutive 40-point games for the first time in his career, Durant has moved into the league lead in scoring with 29.9 per game. He had 30 points in a 101-84 victory over visiting Denver on Jan. 29.

Carmelo Anthony, the league's third-highest scorer at 28.4 per game, missed that game with a sprained left ankle, but he averaged 30.5 points and 6.5 rebounds in two home wins versus the Thunder this season.

Johan Petro scored a season-high 14 points Saturday and has been solid filling in for Martin, but the Nuggets could get a major boost in their front court if Chris Andersen returns after missing Saturday's victory with a sprained left ankle.