Kevin Durant isn’t the least bit surprised by the Nuggets’ ascension to the top of the Western Conference.
“Since last season, I expected them to be at this point. I wouldn’t say I that I’ve got to go to League Pass and watch them play every night because I’ve kind of seen this team coming up from a couple of years ago,” Durant said. “They’re established right now. They know how they’re going to play. They have an identity. They’re not an up and coming team anymore. You look at them as one of the elite teams you’ve just got to have a good night against.”
The Nuggets have been elite this year. They’ve compiled arguably the best win profile in the NBA, going a league-best 18-3 at home. They are the only team in the league that’s remained undefeated in their division at 6-0 with wins over the Thunder (twice), Trail Blazers (twice), Jazz and Timberwolves. The Nuggets have also taken care of all the teams they should have beaten this season, including the Bulls, Cavs, Hawks and Magic, before their clunker last week in Phoenix to the Devin Booker-less Suns.
Next up: the Warriors, who aren’t taking the Nuggets lightly in the two teams’ second matchup of the season.
“It’s a big game. You can’t just show up and expect to win against a team like this especially in their building. We understand what happened last time we were here,” said Stephen Curry alluding to Denver’s 100-98 win over Golden State back on Oct. 21. “It was early in the season. A lot has changed since then. But it’s a big game. Two great teams going at it. So we have to be ready from the jump. I think some of their patterns, they play a lot better with a lead and especially in this building we can’t let that happen, so we’ve got to come out in the first quarter strong and take it from there.”
In the Nuggets’ victory over the Warriors earlier this season at Pepsi Center, Golden State outscored Denver 25-17 in the first quarter, but it didn’t matter. Gary Harris, who’s missed the Nuggets last four games with hamstring tightness and is questionable for Tuesday’s matchup, led Denver with a team-high 28 points. Nikola Jokic added 23 points, 11 rebounds and six assists as Denver held off a furious fourth-quarter rally from Golden State to win by two points.
Jokic, who’s averaging 19.7 points, 10.2 rebounds and 7.5 assists this season, is likely in line for the first All-Star appearance of his young career. Over Denver’s last 10 games, he’s upped his averages to 26.2 points, 11.4 rebounds and 8.4 assists per contest.
“They’re playing consistently. Obviously, Jokic has taken another step, probably should be an All-Star in terms of what he’s been able to do this year,” Curry said. “They’ve just got a lot of solid pieces that fit well together. They play hard, and they’ve developed an identity of how they go about their business. More nights than not they’ve put it together. They’re a tough team, and we’ve got to be ready.”
Since the Nuggets recalibrated their offense around Jokic on Dec. 15, 2016, Denver is 4-3 against Golden State. Only the Rockets (five) and the Jazz (five) have more regular-season wins than the Nuggets over the Warriors since the 2016-17 season. The Spurs have also beaten the Warriors four times in the last three years.
There’s plenty of familiarity between the two sides too. Nuggets coach Michael Malone was an assistant in Golden State from 2011-13 where he watched carefully as the Warriors planted the seeds that eventually sprouted into their current dynasty and three championships over the last four years.
Malone coached Curry in Golden State, and the Warriors’ All-Star point guard still speaks highly of his former assistant coach.
“I think he just has a demeanor about him that’s approachable. He’s fiery as well and he can show it at times, which is a good thing,” Curry said. “You can tell how much he’s invested in the game, how knowledgeable he is in terms of relating to different players from wherever they come from. He does a great job with that.
“I’ve seen clips of him in practice doing drills with the guys and stuff like that. Little stuff like that goes a long way. And your reputation follows you with the guys who have been around you from time to time that he’s a great guy to play for and obviously that shows with how hard these guys play and how much fun they have.”
Durant wasn’t in Golden State when Malone roamed Oracle’s sidelines under then head coach Marc Jackson. But he’s more up to speed on Denver’s coach and the Nuggets’ young core. Durant went out of his way Tuesday to compliment Nuggets upper management and offered his take as to why Denver has risen from a lottery team to a top-tier Western Conference foe, comments that would normally go by the wayside except for the fact that Durant is expected to enter free agency after this season.
If the two-time Finals MVP wanted to take his talents to Denver, the Nuggets have the ability to create the necessary max-level cap room this summer to accommodate what will surely be lofty salary demands from Durant.
“Continuity. You don’t fire your coach after a losing season. You’re patient with him. You’re patient with the young players, let them make mistakes and let them grow,” Durant said. “Gary Harris, Will Barton, Jokic, Malik Beasley, Monte Morris, you’ve got to let them dudes play and wait for you to build something, and they waited for that process to kind of unfold. And it starts at the top. With the ownership to the front office, they’ve done a great job.”
“I don’t know,” Durant added when asked Denver had built itself into a more attractive destination for free agents. “I feel like this is a good team that’s playing great basketball at this point. Great coach. Great area. I don’t know.”
Before Denver can turn itself into a destination franchise, it has to end a playoff drought that’s stretched to five seasons. This season, that dry spell is likely to end. The Nuggets, who enter tonight’s matchup at 29-13, have to go just 21-19 over their remaining 40 games to reach the 50-win threshold, which would surely guarantee them a postseason spot.
“I expected them to be good after last year,” said Kerr. “I don’t know if I would have predicted they’d be in first halfway through the year. But they’ve taken a leap from a year ago when they were already a very good team. So they’re getting better.”
“They’re clearly going to be in the playoffs. And I think we are too. So there’s an excellent chance we might play each other.”
