By Jordan Long
The Denver Nuggets hit the All-Star break at 39-18, 2 games back of the Golden State Warriors for 1st place in the Western Conference. Denver is well on their way to making a trip back to the postseason for the 1st time in 6 seasons. Let’s take a look back on why they are having success so far.
Denver missed out on a chance to make the playoffs last year. They had to knock off the Minnesota Timberwolves in game 82 to make it but lost 112-106 in overtime. They ended up 46-36, one win off of the 8th seed.
The Nuggets started the year 9-1. That was a telling sign saying this season was going to be different. That helped them to the 39-18 record they have right now. One of the biggest reasons for that is Denver’s home record. They are protecting home court and the Pepsi Center is becoming a tough place to play for the road team. The Nuggets have the top home record in the entire NBA at 25-4.
The problem with the Nuggets right now is on the road. When a team makes the postseason as a top seed, the road record must be a little above .500. For whatever reason, when this team plays away from the Pepsi Center, they struggle. They are right at .500 at 14-14. Their play on the road must improve after the All-Star break but they are still in a decent spot to make the playoffs as a top 4 seed.
Denver is able to score points and is passing the basketball around. They average 112 points per game, ranking 16th in the NBA. That is not a bad total. Denver is one of the top teams with assists with a total of 27.6 per game. Denver is going down low and feeding center Nikola Jokic who is averaging 20.4 points per game. Jokic is also passing the ball to his teammates for wide open looks and he averages 7.7 assists per game. Point Guard Jamal Murray adds 18.3 points per game while Gary Harris scores 14.8. Paul Milsap can also have easy looks at the basket with 12.2 points per game.
Defense is an area they must improve on. The Nuggets try to stop rival teams from scoring. The problem is when opponents pass the basketball around the perimeter, Denver leaves a player wide open for a shot. Those go in or they drive to the hoop and nobody picks them up which ends in more points on the scoreboard. The Nuggets give up 107.1 points per game which ranks 6th in the NBA.
Besides defense, one area of concern for the Nuggets is free throws. They aren’t taking advantage of them. Denver makes 75.8% of them, ranking 20th in the NBA. That needs to change if they expect to do something in the playoffs. They must make those free throws since those can be the difference in wins and losses in the postseason.
Denver has to be pleased with the way they have performed to this point. Denver knows there is work to be done, especially if they want home court for a few series. They will start the unofficial second half of the NBA season on February 22 in Dallas. They are in great shape to end their playoff drought.
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