When these Nuggets look in the mirror, they so desperately want to see a champion that their lying eyes fail to acknowledge the fatal flaws.

And that’s the problem with this team.

The Nuggets want to believe all that’s held them back and kept them down in the Western Conference standings is the lack of good health.

Balderdash. 

With only 10 games remaining in the NBA regular season, maybe the Nuggets finally are showing some resemblance to the contenders we all thought they’d be.

But these Nuggets still look nothing like NBA champions.

After being beat up by injuries for months, are 10 games enough to get them in top fighting shape for the playoffs?

“I think it’s good to get punched in the mouth sometimes. I think we needed that. That gives us a different level of grind, a chip on our shoulder. It gave us some humility, too,” multitalented wing Peyton Watson said.

Watson looked gassed at 5,280 but dangerous at the rim during his return to uniformed duty after missing six weeks with a nagging hamstring injury.

The way Denver beat Portland 128-112 Sunday can get this team past Houston or Minnesota in the opening round of the postseason.

But is it enough to beat the defending champion Thunder, the rising Spurs or even the Luka and LeBron Show in LA?

Oh heck no.

Small thinking won’t win Denver a big trophy.

Remember when the acquisition of center Jonas Valanciunas was going to be the patch for the big pothole on the court when Nikola Jokic took a seat on the Denver bench?

Well, so much for that bright idea. After his second straight DNP-coach’s decision, Valanciunas now sits at the forgotten end of the bench alongside Zeke Nnaji. During the course of the past nine Denver games, Valanciunas has played a grand total of 53 minutes. Maybe he would’ve had more fun spending the winter in Greece.

Coach David Adelman’s latest experiment to solve the enduring riddle of the non-Jokic minutes is to begin the second and fourth quarters with a small-ball lineup of Jamal Murray, Tim Hardaway Jr., Bruce Brown, Spencer Jones and Watson, who stands tallest in this group at a slender 6-foot-8.

And what did the Blazers, whom nobody mistakes for Oklahoma City or San Antonio, do offensively in the opening four minutes of Quarter 2?

Dunk, alley-oop, layup, layup, dunk.

Ten points. Five baskets. None more than 12 inches away from the rim.

Newsflash: That’s not going to cut it against the big boys of the Western Conference.

So tell me: How can Denver’s small-ball lineup hope to not only survive, but thrive?

“It’s got to be forcing turnovers,” said Adelman, whose early patience with his second unit was rewarded with defensive stops that put the Blazers away in the fourth quarter.

“Offensively, I think certain nights it’s going to look tough out there. But, defensively, I think we can really shut people down.”

During a winter of discontent when Jokic, Christian Braun, Aaron Gordon and Watson have all missed significant time with injury, Adelman had the top eight players in his rotation available together for only the ninth time this season.

The Nuggets are 7-2 in those games. And that’s more than a ray of hope.

But here’s the thing: Gordon, whose health has been one battle after another, has shown little more than flashes of the heart-and-soul warrior who stood tall during this team’s championship run in 2023.

In those 20 playoff games that earned the Nuggets their first Larry O’Brien Trophy in franchise history, Gordon averaged 35 minutes.

Any guesses how many times Gordon has been on the court at least 35 minutes in games this season?

Answer: Three.

Gordon’s body allowed him to do yeoman’s work in October at Golden State, in November at Minnesota and last week against the Lakers. It took overtime in two of those games for Gordon to reach 35 minutes.

The small-ball version of the Nuggets can play defense capable of sustaining a lead in the playoffs only if Gordon is the center rather than Jones.

“I think when Aaron’s minutes can go higher … you can play small but big at the same time,” Adelman said.

The fatal flaws these Nuggets can’t ignore?

Although their offense can be scary efficient, they can get in trouble if Murray isn’t on fire.

Their defense has stunk since former coach Michael Malone left the building.

Although Hardaway is a solid candidate for Sixth Man of the Year, I’m not certain Adelman trusts his bench enough to avoid running Jokic into the ground during the playoff grind.

Watson is the X factor. During the postseason, do not be surprised if he finishes in crunch time on a regular basis instead of either Cam Johnson or Braun.

Gordon, however, is the rock on which any championship dreams of the Nuggets are built.

If A.G. isn’t as big and solid as a boulder, then betting these Nuggets will survive more than one round in the playoffs is fool’s gold.