From Wasted Land to Road Warriors: The Nuggets’ New Survival Skill

“… Life fades. The vision dims. All that remains are memories. I remember a time of chaos… ruined dreams… this wasted land. But most of all, I remember The Road Warrior(s).”
– Narrator, The Road Warrior

I remember a time of chaos and ruined dreams, at least when it comes to these Denver Nuggets. Times of 30-win seasons, of 14-win seasons, of 11-win seasons. Times that did feel like a bit a wasted land, at least when it comes to Denver Nuggets Basketball. And so many of those times came down to leaving the safe confines of Ball Arena/Pepsi Center/McNichols Arena, where they have frequently been the better versions of themselves, utilizing home court and altitude to at least protect their home.

And what a tough time it used to be to hit the road. It was especially rough in those 11- and 14-win seasons, but even in the 30-ish win seasons, the road was always rougher than home would be. In the season before Michael Malone took over as coach (2014-15), the team won 30 exactly, managing exactly 11 road wins out of the 41 away games they played.

And then there’s this year.

The Nuggets have now won 11 road games in a row, a record for the franchise, and the mark that is actually setting them apart in the Western Conference with their currently-middling home record. Their 12-2 road mark for this season is the lion’s share of why they find themselves in the 2-seed a quarter of the way into the year, and why they are off to the best 24-game start in franchise history.

Their current .750 pace sets them on a course for a 61- or 62-win season, which would also be a franchise-best. And while it feels preposterous after all of the described goodness to still be 5.5 games back of the record-tying Oklahoma City Thunder (24-1) in the conference and division, and weirdly even MORE preposterous to have lost their last four home games, it’s important to lean into ll of the great things that got them here. Especially doing it all while missing two very high-contributing starters from the mix.

If the season were to hold it’s current shape, and Denver was to come in at 60+ wins and the two-seed, they’d have the ultra-important ability to hold home court for the first two rounds of the playoffs, not facing the one-seed until the Western Conference Finals. Possibly even more importantly, they’d have what is looking like a torrid road record and zero fear away from home to go and steal a game or two away and even set that WCF round to give themselves home court advantage.

The pieces are rounding into shape for the Nuggets this year, and they have still not fully gelled into the best versions of themselves. With some big contributions from new and unexpected places, a need to bring back the injured starters at a pace that helps us keep them healthy the rest of the season, and fiery starts from both of their two probable All-Stars, they have given themselves a real chance at surviving these moments when not at full strength, even succeeding in spite of them. At their current pace on the road, they would end the season 34-7 away from home, which would also be a new team record. While they need to figure out what’s recently been bedeviling them at home, they seem to feel less pressure than (almost) any other club out there when they get out into unfriendly places.

A lot of season left to be played, and quite probably some ups and downs to come as we slug this one out. But for a team that has always leaned so heavily into their home-court advantage, this version of the Nuggets is something new. It sure could be a handy trick to have up their sleeve when the postseason starts.