The Denver Nuggets are approaching the all star break a game and a half back of the surging Golden State Warriors and with a 3 game lead on division foe Oklahoma City for the 2 seed.
No longer leading the Western conference, but still exceeding expectations the Denver Nuggets season will soon enter the next chapter with the playoff push. So what’s the state of the Nuggets as of now?
Health With the exception of Jamal Murray’s ankle forcing him to miss a game and perhaps requiring a little rest and recovery the Nuggets are getting back to health. Will Barton is starting to look like the scoring threat we know him to be and the return of a healthy Gary Harris improves the team on both ends of the court.
Depending which rumors we want to believe or disbelieve, we will see Isaiah Thomas prior to the All Star break.
Denver Nuggets
Jared Vanderbilt made his debut and looked like he could contribute if called upon once he gets in game shape, and the lingering question of if and when we will see Michael Porter Jr. this season remains.
Momentum and Chemistry is something the Nuggets will have to maintain if not improve to hang with the contenders as the season rolls on. Hopefully the ever changing rotation can come together and get a consistent identity before it’s playoff time.
For now though, Denver seems to find a different way to win each game and position themselves for a strong playoff seed. I think they will need to form chemistry with the guys in different units playing together before they take on a team in a 7 game series.
So, here’s to hoping for good health so that coach Malone can pair the guys that best suit the Nuggets to compete against the Western elite.
That finally brings us to the question of Who are the Denver Nuggets as we close in on the playoff push?
They appear to legitimately belong amongst the Western elite however they’ve recently been blown out by Golden state and lost to Houston and Utah. So they will have to gel and improve before it’s time to win or go home against those same teams come playoff team.
As the standings sit right now, they’d be looking at a chippy and exciting matchup with the Utah Jazz in the first round. Without the melee that saw Mason Plumlee ejected and Nikola Jokic suspended it’s hard to say how that game would’ve ended, but the Jazz may smell blood in the water none the less.
So, Denver will have to show that they are the team that belongs at the top of the conference, superior to all the teams chasing them if they want to make a strong run at the title.
So long as Nikola Jokic provides other worldly performances and the supporting cast continues to offer fine performances from a different player or players in each matchup, the Nuggets winning ways should continue.
It will be interesting to see what the identity of the Nuggets becomes as the stretch run carries us toward the playoffs.
It should be a fun ride.