The 2016-17 season has been an interesting one for the Denver Nuggets. A season branded with expectations has had its fair share of peaks and valleys. At times, the team looks like they are turning the corner with their play, for showing what the future holds in Denver. In other instances, the Nuggets look exactly like what they are, a young team grinding through the ups and downs of establishing their presence in the league.

To be honest, the Nuggets have been the definition of mediocrity this season. They are just good enough that they are not thrown into the same category as some of the Western Conference’s bottom feeders like the Los Angeles Lakers and Phoenix Suns; however, they are not quite skilled enough to crack a spot with the league’s perennial playoff teams.. With that said, the Nuggets record of 29-35 is good enough for the eighth best in the West. Although they control the eighth seed, it’s vulnerability has fluctuated over the course of the past month or so.

The Nuggets mantra of one step forward, two steps back has put them within striking distance of the playoffs, but also leaves the mystery of just how good or bad this team can be on a game to game basis.

“I think to be a playoff team the one thing you have to be is consistent, and that is something that I think would be hard to describe us as.” Nuggets head coach Michael Malone explained after the team’s loss Wednesday night. “It can’t be one night you play defense, the next night you don’t. If we continue to do that with the team’s that we have coming up, things are going to get interesting real quick.

The Nuggets inability to find a level of consistency this season is what has plagued them most. Denver has won three or more games in a row on three separate occasions this year, but have also lost three or more games on separate occurrences that same amount.

The fact that more than half of the Nuggets losses this year have been by 10 points or less shows how close Denver is to straightening things out; but also reflects the fact that the Nuggets are still lacking pieces and intangibles to be great.

With less the 20 games to go the Nuggets will need to put up or shut up because former Nugget Jusuf Nurkic and the Portland Trail Blazers are breathing down Denver’s neck for the final playoff spot in the West.

“I don’t think it’s too much to ask for consistent effort,” Malone said. “I think the effort should be a constant. I don’t care who’s playing, who’s not playing … I guess maybe I’m hoping that we can find a way to be that consistent team, and throughout the next 18 games we will see if we can do that.