Sitting third in the Western Conference and standing fifth overall in the NBA, the fans are wondering, are the Denver Nuggets on their way to secure another ring? Lets do a mid season statistical dive into the 2023-2024 Nuggets:
As a team, the Nuggets are fourth in field goal percentage in the NBA, second in assists (29.7 a game), first in contested rebounds, fourth in half-court offense (which is always a good predictor of playoff success), they have the fifth best pick and roll defense and many more top ten stats amongst the 29 other teams in the NBA.
It is up for debate that the Denver Nuggets have the best starting five in the league. The Nuggets run it with the best player in the league Nikola Jokic, a nearly unstoppable two-man game between him and Jamal Murray, Michael Porter Jr. , Aaron Gordon and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope who know exactly how to impact winning. Let’s consider this the best starting five in the league until someone dethrones them.
Our bench is powerful but there is room for improvement. Some nights they’re engaged, other nights they’re a no show and the consistency needs to improve. The inconsistency should not come as a surprise, especially for second year players Christian Braun and Peyton Watson, who are in the regular rotation off the bench for Coach Malone. Young bench players often struggle and go through a sophomore slump, but hopefully come playoff time, they will be able to give the team the intangibles of energy off the bench.
Sitting at 31-14 at considering they’ve played the most road games in the NBA and the most back-to-backs in the NBA, they are sitting in prime position to capture the number one seed in the West again. The upstart Timberwolves and Thunder sit ahead of the Nuggets in the standings, but how much are they going to have left in the tank to make a deep playoff run against the Nuggets (and lowkey the Clippers)?
In the midst of a five game East coast roadtrip, which has historically been challenging for the Nuggets, they sit at 3-1 with three consecutive victories over Boston, Washington and Indiana, and a chance to finish four out of five with a victory against New York. Meanwhile, OKC and Minnesota have yet to endure any lengthly roadtrips to date.
With the February 9th trade deadline approaching, there are questions as to if the Nuggets need to add to their roster. Though the needs are not dire, the Nuggets could bolster their bench by adding a rim protecting big man or another proven veteran scorer off the bench.
At 45 games in, I don’t think we could ask for better results. As long as we stay healthy, I am confident this team will be competing into June.
This quote from Michael Malone sums up the attitude in the locker room: “We walk into every arena fully expecting to win.”
