TONIGHT: The Denver Nuggets face the Phoenix Suns in a 7:10 season-opening game at America West Arena in Phoenix.

BROADCAST: Television on FSN with Drew Goodman and Todd Lichti. Radio on KKFN (950 am) with Jerry Schemmel; pregame begins at 6:45.

THE SERIES: The Suns lead 65-44, including 41-13 in Phoenix. Phoenix has won seven straight vs. Denver and eight in a row at home against the Nuggets.

KEY MATCHUP: Denver's Nick Van Exel vs. Stephon Marbury at point guard. Van Exel tends to get fired up to play against the top point guards in the league, and Marbury, an All-Star last season, certainly qualifies.

DENVER ? The last two years, the Denver Nuggets treated the NBA season more like a sprint than a marathon, teasing fans with fast starts, only to disappoint them with second-half swoons.

This season, the reverse seems more likely.

Tuesday, October 30, 2001 - Jason Kidd is out at point guard and Marbury, a pure shooter, is in for the Suns.

Marbury, traded by the New Jersey Nets for Kidd on July 18, averaged 23.9 points and 7.6 assists last season. The 6-foot-2 playmaker averaged 12.4 points and 8.2 assists in Phoenix preseason games.

Van Exel averaged a career-high 17.7 points for the Nuggets last season and was third in the NBA in assists with 8.5 per game. The 6-1 point guard, who has been bothered by a sore right thumb, averaged 11.9 points and 7.1 assists in preseason games.

"Stephon is a lot more explosive and offensive-minded than Jason," Van Exel said. "But he can still can get guys their shots. He can still create for his teammates. . . . With Stephon, you're going to have to play a lot more defense because he is going to be looking to score."

Tuesday, October 30, 2001 - PHOENIX - During home games this season, the Denver Nuggets will be celebrating 25 NBA seasons. As for the road, they are just hoping to have something to celebrate.

 

The Nuggets' history includes a 648-361 home record, an impressive winning percentage of .642. On the contrary, it has been rocky away from the Rocky Mountains, with a winning percentage of .286 (289-720). Astonishingly, the Nuggets never have had a winning road record in their NBA history - the closest they've come to .500 was a 19-22 road record during the 1987-88 season.

Time is ticking.
Denver Nuggets center Raef LaFrentz will know soon whether he is a rich, rich man or if the windfall will have to wait.

The Nuggets and LaFrentz have yet to agree to a contract extension. They have until Wednesday to figure it out.

"At least I can clear my mind of it one way or the other," LaFrentz said Sunday. "It's something that I've thought about throughout the preseason, waiting to see what would happen with my situation here."

If the Nuggets don't extend LaFrentz's deal, LaFrentz will become a restricted free agent July 1, which allows the Nuggets to match any offer LaFrentz receives.

Monday, October 29, 2001 - With just a day left before the regular-season opener, Denver Nuggets shooting guard James Posey remains day to day because of a sprained left ankle.

Posey was injured late in a scrimmage Sunday during practice at the Pepsi Center and will be evaluated again today.

The 6-foot-8, 215-pounder had left ankle problems during the middle of training camp.

Monday, October 29, 2001 - The Denver Nuggets' final preseason box score included an unusual statistic. Nuggets swingman George McCloud fouled out Friday night against the Chicago Bulls.

McCloud has fouled out only eight times during 697 regular-season games in his 11-year NBA career. But now that he will play power forward at times when the Nuggets use a smaller lineup, more fouls and physical play will come the 6-foot-8, 225-pounder's way while jockeying for position with bigger players in the post.

During the preseason finale, McCloud guarded Bulls power forward Charles Oakley, who is much heavier and one of the NBA's most physical players, for many minutes while Denver played small ball.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Denver Nuggets in the NBA, but given what's transpired in the preseason, it's hard to find any silver lining as the team approaches its regular season opener Tuesday in Phoenix.

Normally it takes a couple of months to deflate the early-season hopes of the also-ran teams in the NBA, but in the case of the Nuggets, their grand plans were sucked down the drain in the first week of training camp.

Now, instead of entertaining hopes of qualifying for the playoffs for the first time since 1995, only the most wide-eyed Nugget optimist would utter the "P" word with a straight face.

Losing the only All-Star the team has produced since 1996 will do that to a team. With power forward Antonio McDyess, he of the 21 points and 12 rebounds average last season, recuperating from knee surgery until perhaps February after re-injuring himself on Oct. 4, Denver will be playing out the string from Day 1.

With that one injury, the Nuggets went from having an outside shot at the playoffs to being what former coach Doug Moe used to call a "no-hoper."

Sunday, October 28, 2001 - The Denver Nuggets finished the preseason with a 2-6 record after a 110-106 loss in overtime at Chicago on Friday night. Are they ready for the season?

Nuggets/Openers
- Season opener: Tuesday at Phoenix, 7 p.m.

- Home opener: Thursday vs. Milwaukee, 7 p.m.

- Tickets: 303-405-1111

"We are as ready as we're going to be," power forward Raef LaFrentz said.

"I hope so," guard Nick Van Exel said. "We looked a little bit better (against Chicago). So hopefully, we will carry a little momentum going into Phoenix."

The Nuggets open the season Tuesday in Phoenix.

Coach Dan Issel started Van Exel at point guard, James Posey at shooting guard, Tariq Abdul-Wahad at small forward, LaFrentz at power forward and Scott Williams at center against Chicago and said he'll likely start that lineup against Phoenix. Issel said he would use a nine-man rotation but would not specify whom it will include.