Denver Nuggets First Half Of The NBA Season Review

The Denver Nuggets went into the All-Star Break with a record of 36-19, 4^th in the Western Conference.  They sit 3 games behind the Minnesota Timberwolves for 1^st place in the West. 

                  Denver came into the season with high expectations.  They are the defending NBA Champions and are looking for a repeat performance.  At the break, they are well on their way even though they are in 4^th place.

                  Denver has experienced some long winning streaks so far this year. Their longest is 6 which began on December 18^th when they defeated the Dallas Mavericks 130-104.  It ended at the hands of Oklahoma City who drubbed the Nuggets 119-93.  Denver’s also won 4 games in a row 3 times and had 3 consecutive victories twice this year.

                  When Denver loses a game, they don’t let a long slide occur.  Denver’s longest skid was 3 games which happened twice this year.  One of those stretches is still ongoing as they lost 3 games heading into the All-Star Break. They also lost two in a row twice. 

                  Looking at their offensive stats, Denver scores 113.9 points per game, 19^th in the NBA.   They are led by MVP candidate Nikola Jokic  who scores 26.1 points per game, grabs 12 rebounds, and dishes out 8.9 assists per game.  Jamal Murray puts up 20.5 points per game.  After that Michael Porter Jr. adds 15.9 points per game and Aaron Gordon helps out with 13.8 points per game.

                  The only problem with their offense is free throws.  The Nuggets do a great job of being aggressive going to the rim.  They are often fouled and have a chance to add points to the scoreboard.  For whatever reason, they can’t hit them making just 75.6% of their free throws,  26^th in the league.  They are lucky those haven’t come back to bite them at the end of games.

                  Defensively they are playing well limiting opponents to 110.8 points per game, 6^th in the NBA.  Denver plays solid defense switching when an opponent has a wide-open shot.  The hand in their face forces a missed shot.

                  Denver will resume the regular season tomorrow night when they host the Washington Wizards.  The Nuggets are primed for another long playoff run.  The only area they need to work on is free throws.  If a game comes down to free throws, who knows if they can close it out.  Denver though should be in the playoffs as a top 4 seed.  They would have home court for at least one-round.