Last year, the Golden State Warriors lost nine games all season. The Denver Nuggets were one of those nine losses, and on Thursday, they were looking to duplicate that upset.
They didn’t.
The Warriors trounced the Nuggets, beating them by a final score of 125-101.
Yes, nobody likes to be blown out, and with the team now sitting at 3-5, it’s fair to be getting a little worried, but it’s not all bad. Here are three reasons why Nuggets fans need to remain positive:
Rotation Problems
With the recent run of losses coming in very close games, it’s easy to wonder: Who should be on the court to close games?
On the positive side of things, it’s great for a team to have too many assets, not only for trade pieces — although it’s great to have the assets to make a move — but because it seems as if Denver is dealing with more injuries than normal every single year. Depth is a key to combatting ailments.
The Nuggets are going through that now, and it has actually made it difficult for Malone, as he has not had his full Nuggets team once all season. To start the year, he was missing Gary Harris and Darrell Arthur, both of which play pivotal roles on both sides of the ball. Throw in Will Barton and Wilson Chandler, who have missed the last few games, and it’s been even more difficult.
As these key players get back to full health, I expect Malone to implement them in the lineup and have a better understanding on how the team looks in certain scenarios.
It’s difficult so early on, with multiple important pieces missing, to place all the blame on Malone and his rotations.
The Rookies Are Coming Into Their Own
The only question was: How are they going to find the minutes to play them all?
Murray was the only one that was getting consistent minutes to start the season, and it started off slow. But in the two most recent games Jamal Murray has seemed to get his confidence back and has been very aggressive ever since. He scored 10 points in the Memphis Grizzlies game on Tuesday and followed that up with 14 points against the Golden State Warriors on Thursday.
Juancho Hernangomez was a player that the Nuggets didn’t expect to have coming into the season, but he has shown nothing but growth and potential since coming to America. Juancho just seems to make plays, and his versatility is one of a kind. Against the Warriors, he played Kevin Durant well, as Durant had his 72-game 20-point-scoring streak come to an end.
“Juancho is a competitor. He is a worker, and he made Kevin Durant feel him,” Malone said following the game. “Durant is a top-five player in the world, but I thought Juancho had great discipline to stay down on shot fakes, and he has really good length, and I thought his length was effective against KD, and he’s not afraid.”
Malik Beasley hasn’t received many minutes, but once he finally did, he took full advantage, as he had 12 points in only 15 minutes against the Warriors on Thursday.
After seeing the young players play well, it brings a sense of positivity and a glimpse into the promising future of the organization.
The Brutal Beginning Schedule Is Finally Over
They opened the season having to play against six playoff teams in their first eight games, and aside from the Pistons and Warriors losses, Denver had a real shot to win every one of those games.
It was as tough of a start to a season as I’ve seen in recent memory, and the most interesting part about it was that the Nuggets could honestly be 6-2 right now if not for an inability to close out games they should have won or an admitted mistake by the referees.
Moving forward, it gets a bit better for them, as they’re set to play eight of their next 11 at home.