The Nuggets won a playoff series for the first time since 1994. I really don't think this was a reference to his former teammates, but it still stings: '`It feels good. It feels great actually, especially me being a hometown kid and kind of from afar following the struggles that they've had the last five years in the first round,'' Billups said. ``It's crazy, that monkey is big on everybody's shoulders around here. It's good to get that off, even though I haven't lost in the first round in a long time. Being around here all year, man, it's like everybody's putting all the emphasis on the first round. I shoot higher than that.''