Coming into the season, one of the things working in the Nuggets’ favor was that it seemed like the balance of power had largely shifted from the Western Conference to the East for the first time in many years. Sure, the two favorites still resided out West in the Thunder and Spurs, but beyond that, the conference seemed wide open with no depth and no clear contenders.
That third spot was right there for the taking, with the Nuggets looking as likely as anyone to be able to coast through the regular season and make a real run at San Antonio and Oklahoma City.
But now that we’re almost a month into the season, it seems like that optimism for Denver may have been a bit misguided. For starters, the West still looks like the far superior conference, as many of the East teams that were hyped have fallen flat, and in head-to-head meetings, the West has been vastly superior.
West has 10 legitimate playoff contenders
Furthermore, many West teams are overachieving, and while they still may not be chock full of contenders, it’s clearly a very deep conference, and there are a lot of teams that look to be either ahead of schedule or not ready to fall off just yet. The result is a very deep and competitive conference that’s going to make life tough for the Nuggets almost every single night.
The Spurs look just as good as advertised and have picked up right where they left off last season at 10-2 with 10 straight wins. The Thunder have suffered a slew of devastating injuries already, and yet they still look like they’ll be favored in almost every game they play as long as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is upright.
In terms of the next tier, the Rockets and Lakers look better than anyone expected, and both teams may be legitimate contenders for the Western crown, as LA has started 11-2 and Luka Doncic is an MVP frontrunner, while Houston isn’t far behind at 9-3. And while the Timberwolves have lost Anthony Edwards to injury, the team hasn’t skipped a beat, with LaMelo Ball and Rudy Gobert leading the way.
Beyond that, the Warriors look for real, with Steph Curry playing at an MVP level and Yaxel Lendeborg an early Rookie of the Year candidate. The Trail Blazers are better than anyone imagined, and with Damian Lillard looking healthy, they’re ahead of any expectations.
And perhaps most surprisingly, thanks to a couple of incredible teenagers, Cam Boozer and Cooper Flagg, the Grizzlies and Mavericks are way ahead of schedule and will be in the mix for playoff spots.
Every game is going to be a battle for Denver
Along with Denver, that’s 10 teams for eight playoff spots, with many of them having even higher ambitions. That’s how you end up with the Nuggets at 6-4 and only in 10th place in the conference. We knew the season would be a grind and a war of attrition, but this is already shaping up to be much more grueling than we could have foreseen.
It’s not ideal, and it just means the Nuggets are going to have to be more on point than ever. This team still needs to stay fresh to have any real chance come playoff time, but that’s not going to be easy with so many teams ready to give them a battle every single night.
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