Nuggets Getting Better All the Time...Hopefully

The Nuggets are starting to show improvement in three key areas that they struggled in earlier in the season: winning on the road, winning when key players are injured, and beating inferior teams such as Indiana, Minnesota, New Orleans, and Memphis. This is a very encouraging sign for Nuggets fans, and could point to success in the playoffs against teams like the Lakers as well as the lower quality playoff teams (such as Phoenix, Portland, or Memphis, three teams they have beaten on the six-game win streak).

If the Nuggets can gain more confidence on the road, they could cement their place as one of the few teams that has a realistic chance at an NBA Championship. Up until recently, Denver has struggled on the road and failed to give the rest of the league the intimidating “we can beat you anywhere, anytime” presence necessary for a contender. For much of the season, the Nuggets have looked about as comfortable in someone else’s house as Seinfeld did after he mentioned that he hated anyone who ever had a pony and the elderly owner of the house angrily said, “I had a pony.” Even if the Nuggets have home-court advantage in a series, they are not invincible at home (like when they got worked over by the Timberwolves for their first home loss of the season). Having confidence to consistently beat opponents on the road will give the Nuggets a distinct advantage in the playoffs.

Earlier in the season, the Nuggets couldn’t buy a win (even if Tim Donaghy was still a ref) when they were missing Kenyon Martin. Lately, the Nuggets have faired well without K-Mart, who gives them a gritty defensive presence as well as an awesome lipstick smooch tattoo on his neck that is undoubtedly intimidating to opposing players. The Nuggets have begun to win without him due in part to contributions from guys who barely played early on in the season such as Johan Petro, Malik Allen, and Joey Graham. Ty Lawson has also been injured lately, but Anthony Carter has stepped up in his place with a pass-first mentality, a defensive intensity, and a shot that looks like it might hit the overhead scoreboard before it sadly clanks off the rim. While many of the aforementioned players have been relegated to bench-warming duties for much of the year (and Petro can warm a lot of bench with his large posterior), their real game experience could come in handy in the playoffs.

Of the question marks that plagued Denver earlier on in the year, possibly the most deplorable and glaring issue has been their unfortunate inclination to play down to squads that have no business beating them. While injuries and exhaustion have been excuses, there will be no excuses come playoff time (although the Nuggets will inevitably be playing a better team than Sacramento come playoff time). The Nuggets have recently begun to get in a groove against sub par teams, and this points to heightened intensity and focus as the season begins to wind down and they fight for a better playoff seed.

The Nuggets need to keep on winning in all situations in order to keep the number two seed in the Western Conference. If they continue to win on the road and win at home with the same consistency, they even have a shot at taking over the number one seed in the West over the Lakers.