Now that the smoke has settled from the Denver Nuggets’ first-round playoff loss to the Golden State Warriors. It’s time to review the season as a whole.
There was perhaps no team in the association that began the 2021-21 NBA season in a worse spot than the Denver Nuggets.
Not only was Nikola Jokic‘s superstar running mate, Jamal Murray, set to miss the entirety of the year recovering from a torn ACL. But the player who many pegged to have a breakout campaign, Michael Porter Jr., went down with a back injury after just nine games.
Less than a quarter of the way through the year, the Denver Nuggets appeared dead in the water.
So, with two of their three best players out for the foreseeable future, a few nameless faces were forced to step in and make up for these pivotal losses.
And boy did they ever.
Will Barton (who has previously struggled with injuries) played the most games since the 2017-18 season (71). Finishing as the Nuggets’ third-leading scorer (14.7 points per game) in over 32 minutes per game. He also became the Nuggets’ all-time leader in three-pointers this season, surpassing J.R. Smith.
While Denver’s freshly-minted acrobat, Aaron Gordon, put up his best scoring averages since 2018. With 15.0 points per game to go along with 5.9 rebounds and 2.5 assists. As well as career-high shooting percentages from the field (52 percent) and from the free-throw line (74.3 percent).
Not to mention the team’s alternate floor general, Monte Morris. Who also capped off the season with career-highs across the board, including points (12.6), rebounds (3.0), assists (4.4), minutes (29.9), and free throw percentage (86.9).
This doesn’t even include the emergence of Bones Hyland or the worthy contributions of some key role players like Bryn Forbes, DeMarcus Cousins, and the journeyman, Jeff Green.
What was the result of this you might ask?
Well, the Denver Nuggets went on to win 48 games, and ended with a .585 winning percentage. Far surpassing the expected amount of wins many had set out for them. Including 25 road victories, which was the fourth-best away record in the league and the most road wins in franchise history.
All of this was good enough for the team to avoid the play-in games entirely, and clinch the sixth spot in the Western Conference by the end of March. Finishing just one game behind the Utah Jazz, who never missed more than a handful of matches from any one of their star players.
While most of Denver’s success this season can be attributed to the play of their do-it-all center, and (likely) reigning MVP of the league, Nikola Jokic. Who put up historic numbers leading the team in points (27.1), rebounds (13.8), assists (7.9), steals (1.5), and blocks (0.9). Securing a whopping 32.94 PER (NBA record), and becoming the first player in league history to surpass 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds, and 500 assists in a single regular season.
Good morning. Check out these "advanced stats" from Jokic:
— StatMuse (@statmuse) April 8, 2022
— First 2000/1000/500 season ever
— First to average 25/13/6 in a season ever (he’s averaging 27/14/8)
— First player in top 10 PPG, RPG, APG, FG% in last 50 seasons pic.twitter.com/9rXYm4BzS1
It’s hard not to call the 2021-22 NBA season a success for the entire Denver Nuggets team. Who many thought would struggle to even compete against the gauntlet that is the Western Conference.
Ask yourself this; what if ‘The Greek Freak’ was without both of his All-Star teammates Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton all year? Or what if Devin Booker was left stranded in the desert with no Chris Paul or DeAndre Ayton for the entire season?
Chances are either one of these teams would be struggling to even make the play-in tournament.
While it’s hard to ignore the dominant play of Jokic or the savvy coaching of longtime bench boss, Michael Malone. Every man on the roster played a vital role in the team’s success this season.
And the fact that the Denver Nuggets not only made the playoffs but performed admirably down the stretch of the season should give Nuggets fans immense hope going into 2023.
Even though the season didn’t exactly end how fans (or the team) would have liked, there’s arguably no franchise in a better position than the Denver Nuggets.
With Murray and Porter set to be healthy by the start of the year, a number of budding stars primed to take the next leap and their franchise center coming off back-to-back MVP performances. The Denver Nuggets enter the offseason with legitimate championship aspirations and should be feared by every team in the NBA.