Because of Houston, they no longer have a problem.
The growing disappointment in the Nuggets, which typically waits until May to manifest into blood-curdling screams, screeched to a halt Wednesday night.
They tipped off as winners of 10 of their previous 23 games, knee deep in their toughest schedule stretch since 2014, and exited with a realistic pathway to controlling their destiny.
Suddenly, disaster no longer stares them in the face with missing teeth and a crooked grin. Win Saturday against the Lakers in Los Angeles, and Denver holds head-to-head tiebreakers against the Timberwolves, Rockets and Lakers.
OK, Nuggets, against my better judgment, I am not writing you off.
Throttling Houston playing on back-to-back nights did not change my opinion. It was how Denver did it that extended an olive branch to hope.
The Nuggets played defense. Got actual stops. Really. And it featured a strategic plan.
Coach David Aldeman used a suddenly-healthy Christian Braun to guard Kevin Durant instead of Aaron Gordon. This freed Gordon to switch, sending a bigger body at the future Hall of Famer.
This type of chess is required next month. And finally, mercifully, it is showing up.
Durant averages 28 points per game against the Nuggets in his career. He finished with 11, reduced to a spectator after Denver’s relentless third quarter. The Rockets went 4-for-33 from the 3-point line.
Want to play deep into May and early June? This is how you win. This is who we thought the Nuggets were when the season began.
“We were that team tonight,” Braun said.
The problem is making it stick. They will likely lose to San Antonio on Thursday night. While excuses are for losers, the scheduling makes it a mulligan game.
But how they look in Hollywood on Saturday will go a long way in determining if this movie has legs or simply features a star-studded cast acting out a rotten script. Beat the Lakers — hopefully LeBron James plays because they are worse when he is in the lineup — and this rebound has roots.
To see the Nuggets as a real contender requires squinting and suspension of logic. They check none of the boxes associated with a championship team.
The Nuggets have been hurt, their egos bruised. Discussing the underwhelming past six weeks, coach David Adelman admitted, “Am I frustrated right now? Yes. The players are. We understand that. But nothing replaces playing with each other and finding rhythm.”
It is a wicked ripple effect all the injuries have caused. The lack of continuity undercut them for months, and the return of the starting lineup has undermined the bench.
“We need to compete, and when we get the full team back,” said Adelman of Peyton Watson (hamstring), who could return next week, “it’s going to be an investigation of what the team is supposed to be. What’s best for the group?”
Viewed through a broad lens, the Nuggets are not good late on offense or defense. They boast a 19-18 record against teams .500 and above (You know the type of opponents you face in the postseason).
They are pedestrian at home (18-13). And they have been flirting with the sixth seed, an ominous place given that the last team to win an NBA championship from that position was the 1995 Houston Rockets. They were coined “Clutch City.”
That nickname, to put it kindly, has not applied to the Nuggets this season.
What unfurled against Houston, though, showed us something. That this team is listening, improving.
The blame for the precarious seeding has reached Adelman. Fingers are pointing in his direction after an inexcusable second quarter at Oklahoma City.
Gordon scored 17 points in the first 5 minutes as the Nuggets took a double-digit lead. OKC featured its Lilliputian lineup with Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein sitting out. Then Jonas Valanciunas entered and inexplicably played on the elbow, triggering 3-pointers and jumpers until the Thunder went on a run.
That falls back on the coach. He has to be better. Either demand more of Valanciunas or play him less (which likely will be the case if the teams meet in the postseason).
As for those who rip him for not doubling Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on the last shot — don’t. That sure looked like Spencer Jones messed up in not directing SGA toward help.
Regardless, it was a low point in a season of dumpster dives.
Then came Houston. A flicker of optimism has returned.
Denver played defense with urgency, staying in front of players, helping and switching. It bore resemblance to the 2023 playoffs. The Rockets’ missed shots led to easy buckets in transition, and no one finishes better than Braun.
In the halfcourt, Cam Johnson emerged from witness protection. This is the player the Nuggets traded for, versatile, unselfish, but decisive. When he talks to the media about his slump, it is clearly mental.
Wednesday demonstrated that he is capable of starting or anchoring the second unit, erasing months of disappointment.
Adelman was quick to qualify the victory as one game.
“It is a step-by-step process. I can say it all day and I will take the heat for that. We have to be patient,” Adelman said.
Who are the Nuggets? What are the Nuggets?
With one month left in the season, no one seems to know. Are they the team that surrendered against the Knicks and gagged against the Thunder or the team that suffocated the Celtics and Rockets?
Are they legitimate or just a convenient distraction until the Broncos’ first mini-camp?
Just because they have stunk, does not mean they still smell.
The Nuggets are fun, but fleeting. They cook, but are confusing.
The Houston game showed they care. They have the right pieces. And the coach is getting better at using them.
“I am not going to be irresponsible and say I expect us to be the best team in the league right now,” Adelman conceded. “But I do think we have time to be a major problem late in the year.”
All right, all right, welcome back, Nuggets. To open arms. Even if it leads to broken hearts.