Photo credit: blogs.denverpost.com
Something is Cooking in Denver: The Dark Horse in the West
As I write this post the Denver Nuggets have just decimated the Oklahoma City Thunder, a feat that should give you pause in a Western Conference that is a fairly tight race between teams in terms of playoff seeding. While Denver will most likely not get a top-4 seed (due to the misfortune of being in the same division as the perennial top-seeded Thunder), there is something to be said for the other hot team in the NBA right now that does not have Lebron James on the roster.
It feels like I can’t write an article about the NBA without mentioning Lebron, but alas that is the case: he is the greatest player the world. Now that I have sloughed off that obvious conclusion, why don’t we look closer at these streaking Nuggets.
They do not have a true superstar in the sense that many of the other top teams do. Andre Iguodala, while a brilliant perimeter defender and no slouch when it comes to filling up stat sheets, is as close to a breakout commercial star as the Nuggets possess. There was a lot of chatter when Carmelo Anthony went home to New York and left the Nuggets and the wildly underrated George Karl in the lurch.
Who is laughing now?
Enter a group of team players who understand their strengths and use them to hide glaring weaknesses.
They are young and they love to push the ball.
Enter the 13-game win streak that is not as impressive as Miami’s.
Or is it?
Miami is the best team in the league right now and if they manage to repeat this year, they enter rarefied air with other great teams like my Celtics and the Lakers. They are doing this on the backs of another MVP year by Lebron and a resurgence of the Dwayne Wade who was so dominant in years past. The supporting cast in Miami is so impressive that we forget for a moment that streaks like this are equal parts luck, ease of schedule, and talent.
Denver does not boast the same star-studded cast, but they do have smart role players. Ask your average NBA fan, not your frothing-at-the-mouth fan, and see what kinds of stats they can drum up for this starting five: Danillo Gallinari, Kenneth Faried, Kosta Koufus, Ty Lawson, and Andre Iguodala.
If you are playing along at home, those are crickets that you hear.
A headline on ESPN asked how scared the elite of the West should be.
Simple answer: very.
The Nuggets have no fear and nothing to lose. They are not burdened by huge contracts and huge egos that dominate the headlines. They are a high tempo team that is simply cashing in on a fantastic streak. Can they keep up this momentum and challenge any winning records? Probably not. Will they give a team like the Clippers or Grizzlies a real scare in the first round? You better believe it.
Bold Prediction. The Nuggets make it to the second round and take the Spurs or Thunder to 7 games.
Dan O’Brien
Editor, Empirical
Author: of The End of the World Playlist, Bitten, Cerulean Dreams, and The Journey
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