Buckle Up, Denver: The Nuggets’ Wild Ride Begins

“Everybody likes a roller coaster ride.”
-Pete Waterman

I used to be the biggest fan of roller coasters. The steeper, the better. The curvier, the greater. The loopier, the… uh, superer.

OK, I lost that one. But I was always game to ride a coaster, until a decade or so ago, a friend took me to the far end of Brooklyn for a ride on the Cyclone at Coney Island. It turns out I only like more modern roller coasters, the ones on newer rail systems. A smooth ride can still happily take me on loops that shake all the change out of my pockets, but that Coney Island nightmare taught me about the old school of coaster-riding that day. The Cyclone is made out of wood, and is 98 years old this year. It felt like the equivalent of being put in a paint mixer for about three minutes. I’ll still ride the new stuff, but the Cyclone cured me of ever wanting to ride anything historical ever again.

It’s too early in the season to say for sure, but I think if you’re a fan of pure basketball, watching for the fun of the games and quality of competition, no matter what the outcome, this upcoming NBA season is going to feel like a roller coaster ride of the highest order. Most of the games of this first few nights have been amazingly entertaining.

If you’re a fan of the Nuggets, or of most any other Western Conference franchise, I’m betting your roller coaster ride may feel a little more of the paint-mixing variety. If your joy is pinned to the success of a single team this year, it may be… a bumpy ride.

If I’d have told you that on the Denver Nuggets Opening Night, Nikola Jokic would have a triple-double, Jamal Murray a double-double, and Aaron Gordon would throw up a 50-PIECE, you’d have struggled to imagine a Nuggets loss, even against the ageless Golden State Warriors, who have assembled a formidable squad of their own, at least as far as their Rascal (TM) batteries and replaced hips carry them into this season. But lose the Nuggets did, showing signs of just how remarkable a team they have the potential to be this year, and how fine a line it is to failure against most decent teams this year.

These Nuggets are talented, but they’ll have to iron out the wrinkles more quickly than they might have hoped against what looks to be stiff competition.

But that will be the way for most of the West this year. The champion Thunder have been to double-OT twice in two games. The 2-0 Warriors will get t start their weekend on a back-to-back against a Portland team that gave Minnesota all they could handle in Game 1. The L.A. teams both start out 0-1, and suddenly nowhere looks to be an easy out. It should be entertaining for anyone not on blood pressure meds or prone to overreaction.

The Nuggets get a night to recombobulate before catching Phoenix one the second night of a back-to-back at Ball Arena for their home opener. The Suns started their season with a win at home against the Kings, and see the Clippers in L.A. on Friday night before skipping back to Denver. While you’d hope that was all in the Nuggets favor, all it may mean this early in the season is that Phoenix has had one more game to get their sh– together.

It is remarkable that the Nuggets now have three 50-point scorers on their roster, and no one has been deserving a 50 longer than AG, right after he set that jersey number aside for more noble things. There were some exceptional moments across the roster, and you can see how far the new concepts they are building around have come along, defensively and offensively. But if those sparks aren’t more consistent soon, then this roller coaster will only feel like it is plummeting… Which may be great at the amusement park, but is not how you want to be spending a season.

Pull down hard on those lap bars, make sure you are buckled in tight, and place your hands outside the cars at you own risk. This season’s Denver Nuggets roller coaster ride could get a little bumpy in moments, but looks to be a hell of a lot of fun.