Underdog

I almost always root for the underdog. It comes from people not believing in the power of the human spirit. It doesn’t always happen, but it happens enough to make me believe. Ask Mike Tyson about taking their opponents lightly.

The latest case in point are the Denver Nuggets. They are in the NBA Western Conference finals against the Los Angeles Lakers, led by their version of Batman and Robin, Lebron James and Anthony Davis. This duo are the first teammates to both make first team All-NBA in the same year in 13 years.

The Nuggets were 2,000-to-one pre-season favorites to win the title. For non-gamblers, that means that for every $100 you wager, you would win two grand. The Nuggets are eight wins from winning that bet. These guys are led by two foreign born players: Canadian born Jamal Murray, who is averaging a solid 24 points per game (including shooting almost 50% from three point range) this playoff and Serbian born Nikola Jokic better known as “The Joker”. He is averaging 25 points per game himself.

This year’s Denver team is the first team to overcome two 3-1 deficits in route to their first conference finals appearance since 2009. They are one of eight NBA teams that have yet to win a league title.

The Lakers were the second team most likely to win the title, getting 450-to-1 odds. The preseason favorite was the Los Angeles Clippers, the team that Denver beat to get to the finals.

The Lakers came out strong taking Game 1 convincingly. Game 2 will say a lot. But remember, even if they lose, Denver has been there before.