NBA FREE PICK — FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2010
Denver Nuggets (33-16) at Los Angeles Lakers (38-12), 10:30 p.m. EST, TV: ESPN
The Denver Nuggets, the first-place team in the Western Conference’s Northwest Division, travel to take on the Los Angeles Lakers, the first-place team in the Western’s Pacific Division, at the Staples Center.
The season series between the two teams is tied 1-1, with the Bulls losing at Atlanta on Dec. 9, 118-83, and picking up the win in Chicago on Dec. 19, 101-98.
While Carmelo Anthony may be back and practicing with the Denver Nuggets, don’t expect to see him in this game after already missing six straight with an ankle injury. Anthony told the Denver Post on Thursday that he’s not going to come back before he’s 100 percent, and with four games against top-flight competition coming up for the Nuggets before the All-Star break, he’d like to play in one or two of those. This, my friends, is not one of those games. It would be remiss to not mention Chauncey Billups, however, who is still Denver’s leader even with Anthony in the lineup and is an All-Star himself after being added because of an injury to another player. Billups has proven over and over again in his NBA career that if he’s on the floor, that gives his team a chance to win.
