Denver Nuggets: The NBA’s Version of Jekyll and Hyde
Dec 7, 2014; Atlanta, GA, USA; Denver Nuggets forward Wilson Chandler (21) reacts against the Atlanta Hawks in the second quarter at Philips Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
The season is more than a quarter of the way finished and it’s time to accept facts: The Denver Nuggets are the NBA’s version of Jekyll and Hyde.
There might not be a more frustrating team to root for in the entire league. At least if you’re a Philadelphia fan, you know your team is going to be terrible this year. But there are two versions of the Denver Nuggets. The Jekyll version is a team that plays with high-energy, gets out in transition, plays solid defense, shoots the ball well from the floor and finds a way to win. The Hyde version is the team that comes out slow, lets the game get away from them early due to poor shooting or terrible defense or both, and ends up walking off the court after having another big loss put on them by lesser competition. One night the Nuggets are awesome and a joy to watch, the next they’re downright terrible and nearly unwatchable.
21 games into the season and currently on a 4-game losing streak, the Nuggets boast a 9-12 record.
Here’s a breakdown of their margins of victory:
- Less than 5 points: 1 win
- 5-9 points: 4 wins
- 10-14 points: 1 win
- 15-19 points: 0 wins
- 20-29 points: 3 wins
- 30+ points: 0 wins
If you look only at the point differential in their wins, the Nuggets look like a pretty good team on paper. They have shown the ability to win close games that are decided by 9 points or less, and on three occasions they’ve completely run their opponents out of the gym, posting victories of 20 points or more. I think most fans would be happy with that performance (although when you look closer, you realize some of the games they won by less than 9 points never should have been that close, as was the case with their most recent win over the Utah Jazz).
Now, here’s a breakdown of the margins of defeat:
- Less than 5 points: 1 loss
- 5-9 points: 4 losses
- 10-14 points: 1 loss
- 15-19 points: 3 losses
- 20-29 points: 2 losses
- 30+ points: 1 loss
This is where things get depressing. As a fan, I can stomach the 5 losses of 9 points or less. It’s a long season and we knew the Nuggets weren’t going to win ’em all. A loss of 9 points or less, while still a loss, is representative of a decent effort in which the team competed until the final buzzer. But 6 total losses of 15 points or more is hard to tolerate. A 15-point loss is, for all intents and purposes, a big loss in the NBA. Add to that the fact that three of those losses were by 20 points or more, and one of them was by 30 points, and you start to see how frustrating this season has been for the Nuggets and their fans.
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Essentially, fans don’t know what they are going to get out of the Nuggets from one night to the next. We are just as likely to see the Nuggets win by 20+ points as we are to see them get destroyed by 20+ points. That’s a rough way to get through an 82-game season. There’s no fan base that can expect their team to win every time they step on the court, but there are plenty of fans that know their teams are much more likely to keep a game competitive than they are to get blown out.
I know most Nuggets fans came into this season cautiously optimistic. We weren’t expecting the team to win every game, but based on the talent on the team and the narrative advanced by the team’s front office and coaching staff, we certainly expected them to compete night in and night out. This team was supposed to have a solid, “power in numbers” identity that would ensure the had a chance to win every night. Instead, what we have is a team that doesn’t know what it wants to be or how it wants to win.
The Nuggets are back in action tonight as they return to Denver to host the Miami Heat. Be sure to tune in, Nuggets fans, and find out which team we’ll get tonight: Jeykll or Hyde.