Nuggets Baby!

The Denver Nuggets are now 20-2 since the all-star break and are by far the hotttest team in basketball. Last night they showed off their impressive numchuk skills and pushed Kevin Garnett's Timberwolves to the brink of playoff elimination. How sweet is that! Andre Miller had 22 points and a season-high 15 assists to lead the Nuggets to a 107-104 victory. Melo and Martin added 26 and 24 points respectively. For those of us who suffered through the Bickerstaff debaucle and then the 17 win season (only two years ago), this is truly amazing. The Nuggs are sitting a half game back of the Rockets, and, if they can pass them, would end up playing the Sonics in the first round. That would be an ideal matchup between Coach Karl and the organization that let him go. It would also be a much better matchup than facing either the Suns or Spurs.

In other NBA news, the LA Fakers are out of the playoffs for just the fourth time since they moved to LA in 1960, and have their first losing season since the 1993-94 season. Who's to blame? Duhh...Kobe. It was Kobe that pushed management to trade Shaq. And it was Kobe that soured relations with Phil Jackson, pushing him into temporary retirement. Looks as though he is getting the Karma that he deserves.