Mostly, after the Denver Nuggets beat the Los Angeles Clippers in the seventh game of their Best of Seven series, observers put it all on the Clippers and Doc Rivers, Clippers’ coach, for losing. Some of it is true that the Clippers became offensively predictable and easy to guard but make no mistake, the Nuggets belong, and are very good. They won that series and can beat the Los Angeles Lakers and LeBron James. The Lakers, of course, can beat them too but lets take a look at some variables without picking a winner.
Denver finished third in the West, this year. Just behind the Lakers and the Clippers. They had a plus 2.1 points / opposition points stat and overall they finished sixth in the entire league. For them to be amongst the last four teams remaining is no reach, especially on a neutral court.
There is nothing super spectacular about the Nuggets during the regular season though they are (and were) a steady team. They were 19th in offense and 11th in defense. In the bubble, they are 11th in offense (out of 16) and 6th in defense. This demonstrates they are a two way team. They can score and they can defend; they don’t rely on one or the other to win games, they try to do both good and they…
