If the Nuggets intend to be NBA kings again, they cannot be ClanKing and SinKing, but rather must be ThanKing and ThinKing.
From the end of February to mid-March, it seemed that the Nuggets would only pound sand during the playoffs. They had lost five games, including two in overtime to the Thunder and the Lakers, and have fallen to 41-27, sixth in the Western Conference and possibly streaming into the play-in games. But nearing the conclusion of March and the regular season they seem to strive, with a chance to pound four eventual opponents – the Timberwolves, the Lakers, the Thunder in the West and some team like the Pistons or the Celtics in the league finals.
The Nuggets currently claim the most preeminent pair in basketball since James Naismith introduced the game in 1896 to Denver at the downtown YMCA (located just a few yards from where the Nuggets play at Ball Arena).
Two weeks ago the Nuggets had been given up for dread after losing five games. Yet, they’ve won six of their last seven and their last five in a row. Crunch time has become clutch time, as the Nuggets have shown in recent games. They could take at least five of their remaining seven games and finish with the fourth best record in the conference to earn the home edge in the opening rounds.
The Nuggets can thank their lucky stars – Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray – and thank the basketball lords that everybody is healthy for the first time since early in the season. They can begin to think of the hard and long post season.
Bring on the Tenderwolves or the Rockettes. The healthy, hearty and happy Nuggets will reach 51-plus games.
The Nuggets are 9-7 this season against the other five West teams anticipated to be in the playoffs. They won four of six against the Wolves and the Rockets. They complete the season series with the Lakers 2-1. The Spurs and the Nuggets are tied at 1-1 so far with home-and-home games left in the last month.
Most troubling, though, is the Nuggets are 0-3 against the Thunder with one confrontation to go at The Ball.
In a bizarre twist the Nuggets, who have no games remaining vs. Eastern Conference teams, were 1-5 against the Pistons, the Celtics and the Knicks.
The Nuggets’ schedule in the stretch features five of seven at home. They play Sunday here against the Warriors, then travel to Salt Lake City. The two potential runners-up to the MVP Trophy – Jokic and Victor Wembanyama – meet in Denver Saturday and conclude the regular season April 12 in San Antonio. In between the Nugs are up against Portland, Memphis and Oklahoma City in Denver.
Tanking is for abysmal NBA teams trying to get lower seeds. But the Nuggets are only thinking about trying to ascend to third over the Lakers (tiebreaker belongs to Nuggets) or staying fourth above the Timberwolves.
The Nuggets will go all-out because they continue establishing an eight-man post season rotation, tweaking their defense together and tougher in the first quarter and the critical late time, preparing Peyton Watson for the run physically and fitting him in and creating a solid standard schedule for Aaron Gordon. Meanwhile, Jonas Valanciunas has been demoted from backup center to missing man at the end of the bench as the inexperienced and dubious staff under head coach David Aldelman focus on a small-ball scheme when Jokic and Jamal, who are playing lights out in the bright lights lately, are not on the floor.
The Nuggets are studying more creative methods of pressure to subdue Anthony Edwards and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander who both have had their way with the Nuggets. One way is to force each to surrender the ball more often and prevent them from getting passes every trip or getting fewer trips to the free throw line. Christian Braun, Gordon and Bruce Brown have to take turns on the difficult assignments.
The Nuggets absolutely want to play the Thunder one more time after coming so close last season. But they also want some of Minnesota and, especially, all of the Lakers., who have belonged to the Nuggets in the playoffs.
If the Nuggets are to be re-crowned as NBA Kings, Murray has to be great and Jokic the greatest.