If you didn’t watch much Denver basketball during the regular season—and who can blame you, given that so many games were blacked-out for most local subscribers—it’s been a wild ride. Some days, the team looked like one of the best squads in basketball and every bit capable of winning a second NBA title in three years.

In other stretches, the Nuggets were, well, a disaster. In fact, Denver’s 12-13 record after the All-Star break nearly broke the locker room, and a Cold War ensued between the head coach and front office. Things got so bad that, on April 8, the winningest coach in Nuggets history, Michael Malone, was fired along with general manager Calvin Booth.

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Despite those shocking moves, Denver finished the regular season on a four-game win streak and secured the number four seed in the playoffs with a 50-32 record. Thanks to heroics from Aaron Gordon, Jamal Murray, and, of course, three-time MVP Nikola Jokić, Denver dispatched the Los Angeles Clippers (also 50-32) in the first round.

Now, the Good Guys are squaring up with the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder (68-14) for a chance to reach the Western Conference Finals. Getting past OKC, arguably the favorite to win it all, will take everything the Nuggets have left, so here’s a quick primer on where Denver’s been—and where they might be headed.

Nikola Jokić is him.

Nikola Jokic exits Ball Arena past an MVP sign.
Nikola Jokic walks off the court after defeating the Memphis Grizzlies at Ball Arena on April 7, 2022 in Denver, Colorado. Getty Images

Nuggets center Nikola Jokić (pronounced “yo-kich”) is massive, awkward, and goofy. He’s also the best passing center in basketball and widely considered the best player in the league (in the world, really), a triple-double machine whose clumsy appearance belies his utterly dominant game. Jokić won back-to-back Most Valuable Player accolades in 2021 and 2022, was snubbed in 2023, and nabbed a third last season, which put him in the same conversation as threepeaters Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, and Larry Bird. Ever heard of those guys?

This year, Joker put up the best numbers of his career, averaging a triple-double. But it seems as though the media are tired of the big man’s successes, as he is likely to lose the award to Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

Few things represent the dichotomy between what Jokić looks like and his overall effectiveness better than what has become his signature move: the Sombor Shuffle. The maneuver, which gets its name from Jokić’s hometown in Serbia, involves him setting his 6’11” frame and “jumping” off his right leg—about high enough to slip a credit card underneath—before releasing a high, arcing shot that often finds the bottom of the net. Like everything Jokić does, the move is either the most or least athletic thing in the world, but, boy, does it work.

Jamal Murray needs to stay healthy.

Jamal Murray, at times, has looked like a bona fide star (despite never having been selected for an All-Star Game). But if there’s one thing that’s held his career back, it’s injuries. In 2021, he tore his left ACL, which kept him out the entire following season. He was healthy for the championship run, but then missed 23 games a year ago. This season, he battled a hamstring injury that kept him out of the lineup amidst the skid that cost Michael Malone his job.

The good news is that Murray, who averaged 21.4 points, 3.9 rebounds, and six assists this season, appears on firm footing in the playoffs—something he demonstrated in a monstrous 43-point performance in game five against the Los Angeles Clippers. When Murray and Jokić are both on the floor, Denver’s offense is lethal.

There’s a new coach in town.

David Adelman at a press conference
Head coach David Adelman Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post

When Malone got the boot, longtime assistant David Adelman was tapped by ownership to step into an interim role. Adelman, who has been with the Nuggets since 2017, previously spent time with the Orlando Magic and Minnesota Timberwolves before joining Malone’s staff.

The son of a Hall of Fame coach, Adelman has been scouted for other head-coaching vacancies (a year ago, he was interviewed by the Lakers), and after a successful month at the helm of the Nuggets, some are already calling for the interim tag to be removed. Denver finished the regular season with four victories under their new coach, rallied past the Clippers in dramatic fashion, and then took game one on the road against a heavily favored Oklahoma City team. If this is Adelman’s audition, it’s off to a fine start.

The bench needs to show up.

If Denver has a key weakness, it’s depth. When the Nuggets won a championship two years ago, the team was afforded huge minutes from backup guard Bruce Brown (now with the New Orleans Pelicans), backup center Jeff Green (now with the Houston Rockets), and guard Christian Braun (a rookie at the time, who has worked his way into the starting rotation).

This year, the only reliable bench option Denver had was Russell Westbrook, the explosive veteran who was signed in the offseason. And while Westbrook has handled the role well (he averaged 13.3 points this season), the Nuggets have had few other contributors step up. Shooting guard Peyton Watson, now in his third year with the Nuggets, will need to log important minutes if Denver is going to make a deep run in these playoffs.

Here, a brief history lesson.

Alex English jumps to shoot over the Los Angeles Lakers defense during their NBA Pacific Division basketball game on January 8, 1985, in Inglewood, Los Angeles. The Nuggets won the game 126–124. Getty Images

While the Nuggets won their first and only NBA championship two years ago, they do have a storied history. Denver was a regular in the playoffs during the 1980s (the Alex English years), qualifying nine straight seasons, a feat they bested between 2004 and 2013 (the Carmelo Anthony years) when they made 10 consecutive playoff appearances.

The Nuggets have made five Western Conference Finals (losing three times to the Lakers, but sweeping them in 2023) and have helped produce 12 NBA Hall of Famers, including Anthony (elected this year), Allen Iverson, Dikembe Mutombo, and, of course, the small forward English, who you’ll want to look up before heading to any Nuggets watch party.

Aaron Gordon is the hero.

Trading for Aaron Gordon during the 2021 season has proven to be one of the organization’s most pivotable moves as it assembled a worthy supporting cast for Jokić. Gordon, who was developing into a star with the Orlando Magic, embraced his new role in Denver, becoming one of Jokić’s favorite targets and one of the best dunkers in the game. Without him, the Nuggets probably wouldn’t have hung a banner in 2023.

And without his heroics the past month, the Nuggets might already be at home. In the first round, Gordon’s buzzer-beating dunk (off an errant Jokić three-point attempt) was one of the most stunning ends to a playoff game in NBA history. Then, in game one against Oklahoma City in the second round, his three-pointer with four seconds on the clock sealed the improbable victory for Denver. Gordon is slowly becoming a legend in Denver—and for good reason.

The road ahead.

Coming into the playoffs as the number four seed, Denver knew it would have a long row to hoe. By beating the Clippers in round one, the Nuggies’ reward was a date with the Oklahoma City Thunder, who posted the best record in the NBA (and one of the best all-around seasons in league history) this year. Denver stole game one in Oklahoma City, but finishing off the Thunder will require more than late-game magic. (And a game two drubbing—149-106, in favor of the Bad Guys—won’t help matters.)

Denver will have to be almost perfect on both sides of the ball if they’re going to move onto the Western Conference Finals, where they would meet Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves (who sent the Nuggets home a year ago) or Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors. In the Finals, the Boston Celtics or Cleveland Cavaliers, both juggernauts in the Eastern Conference this season, could easily be waiting.

Jay Bouchard
Jay Bouchard
Jay Bouchard is a Denver-based writer and a former editor on 5280's digital team.