The injury bug has been relentless for the Denver Nuggets this season, never letting them fully settle into a rhythm. Just when it feels like things are turning a corner, another key piece ends up sidelined. Christian Braun has missed time, so have Cam Johnson and Aaron Gordon. The burden of carrying the team had fallen entirely on Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic.
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Then the other night, the worst happened. The Joker joined the list after he hyperextended his knee. The good news is that the damage wasn’t too severe, and the three-time MVP will be back at some point. The bad news is that he’ll miss at the very least, four weeks. The Nuggs currently sit in the third place in the competitive Western Conference. But because of the injuries, specifically Jokic, they could drop as far as 7th in the next two weeks.
It’s not all doom and gloom. Denver did manage to win against the Raptors 106-103 a night ago so there’s proof that they CAN win without their centerpiece. One Nuggets optimist is Zach Lowe. The analyst predicted that the squad will go 5-10, which is not a terrible situation for them given the dire circumstances.
“Even if they do go 5-10 and all those other teams tie them/catch them, when Jokic comes back, they’re going to start winning at their normal pace again, and they’re going to start passing those other teams,” he stated. The win over Toronto was a good start. Perhaps this squad, now led solely by Murray, can do more than people think.
Regardless of how inspired Murray plays, Denver losing a few spots in the seeding is inevitable. But Lowe claimed that they really don’t care about seeding too much. “I actually don’t think the Nuggets care that much about seeding. In fact, if they somehow ended up in 6th the end of the season, being on the opposite side of the bracket from Oklahoma City is not a bad consolation prize for them. I think the 4 or 5 thing is a little more interesting in having to play them in the second round.”
That’s a great point. Last postseason, Denver and OKC gruelled it out over 7 intense games, which the Thunder eventually emerged victorious from. If they could avoid that until at least the Conference Finals, maybe this year they’ll come out on top. There’s also the chance that someone secures an upset over the defending champs in the early round, which would make the Nuggs path back to the Finals that much easier.
“I think they’re an inner circle title contender,” added Lowe. “They think they’re an inner circle title contender when they get healthy. I think they’re really excited about what this team could be when they get Brown, Gordon, Jokic, Johnson back.” Any team that has Nikola Jokic is a contender. That’s how much of an impact The Joker makes on the game.
That belief is ultimately what this stretch will come down to. The Nuggets don’t need to be perfect right now, they just need to survive and stay within striking distance. If they can tread water behind Murray and steal a few wins along the way, the standings will sort themselves out once Jokic is back orchestrating everything.
Health, not seeding, will decide Denver’s ceiling, and when this group is whole again, no one in the West will be eager to see them across the bracket.
