The Denver Nuggets have missed the playoffs by one game for two straight seasons.
That’s close. ONE more win, but how close are the Denver Nuggets to getting a top seed and possibly competing for a title? My opinion is very close. Let’s just look at what ONE more would really do for the Nuggets.
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ONE more point for the Nuggets and one less for the opponents would’ve ranked Denver in a tie for 4th with OKC for point differential. The Nuggets were 10th in the Western Conference in turnovers at 14.3 one less would rank them 7th at 13.3. They were 12th in the West in opponents turnovers at 13.4 one more would rank them 4th only 0.1 out of second. The differential there is +0.9 good enough for 4th but one more would’ve ranked them second guess what 0.1 away from first in the West. One more free throw made per game they jump from 6th to 4th.
ONE may seem like quite a stretch for a fringe playoff contender to jump to the top of the West, but the team or any one player could step up and make all those stats come true. Just as simple as Jamal Murray scoring one more point and the addition of a healthy Paul Millsap allowing one less. Plumlee could sure drop one more free throw per game just by returning to his career average. Jokic may just do both and become a perennial all star, or hey this Isaiah Thomas guy may just up our scoring by two PPG and blow my streak of ones. Either way when you look at the league and you look at Denver’s roster they’re right on the verge of being ONE of those teams with a shot at an NBA title.
So Look out Denver pretty soon the Nugget’s may be able to say We’re Number 1.