"Al Harrington's voice — so deep, so smooth, so serious — makes Barry White sound like Betty White. When Harrington speaks, there's a resonance of importance. So, after the Nuggets lost Sunday's heartbreaker to the Los Angeles Clippers, Harrington's strong voice made his strong words echo.

"I still feel," he said from the losing locker room, "that we're the better team."

Better than the Clippers? Who have Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, Chauncey Billups and Caron Butler, plus top sixth-man candidate Mo Williams and up-and-coming center DeAndre Jordan?"