Denver Nuggets' Soft Schedule Should Mean Separation in the Northwest

The Denver Nuggets (9-4) sit slightly ahead of the surging Portland Trailblazers (10-5) atop the NBA’s Northwest division. And while the Nuggets have been on top of the Northwest since the beginning of the season, the Trailblazers have won eight of their last 10 games and are right on Denver’s heels.

Luckily for the Nuggets, their next five games present a schedule as soft as velvet pillows—meaning if Denver can capitalize, they should be able to stretch the lead in the division.

Denver starts their stretch of sorry opponents against the saddest NBA team in 2009, the New Jersey Nets, who have yet to win a game at 0-13. Another number that bodes well for the Nuggets is 5-0, the perfect record that the team maintains at home thus far in 2009. Denver looks to build that number to 6-0 on Tuesday, as they play the Nets in the Pepsi Center at 7 p.m. MT.

Following the Nets, the easy road continues for the Nuggets as they play at Minnesota Wednesday, the Nortwest’s cellar dwellers, then back at home to face New York, Minnesota again, and Golden State. The five teams don’t even have as many wins combined as the Nuggets do on their own, as they are a disastrous 8-55 (.127).

Comparatively, the Trailblazers play against some better competition starting with the Chicago Bulls tonight. Following the Bulls, Portland plays the horrible Nets and Grizzlies, the middle-of-the-pack Jazz, and a decent Heat team. And while there are some winnable games for the Blazers, their opponents combined records are much better at 25-39 (.391) than what the Nuggets have to face.

And at the risk of sounding like a cliché-spouter, all Denver can worry about is taking care of their own business one game at a time.

Really though, the Nuggets are, and can be, one of the best teams in the NBA when they play to their full potential. Denver is currently third in the league in scoring at 107.9 points per game, and while they are 22nd on defense, their 6.61 point per game differential is fourth best in the NBA. The Nuggets are also eighth best in the NBA in steals (8.2) and 10th least (13.5) in turnovers, meaning they value holding onto the ball and use those possessions to score points.

Denver has room to improve in some areas too though, most noticeably rebounding and personal fouls.

The Nuggets foul 23 times per game, which sends opponents to the line for an average of 27 free throws. Denver big men Nene (3.8) and Kenyon Martin (3.3) need to find a way to stay out of foul trouble and stay on the court, where they are both assets to their team.   

Easily the biggest area of concern for the Nuggets is their rebounding, as they are 24th in the NBA at 40 per game. Nene, K-Mart, and Chris Andersen have to box out better, as they have been soft around the hoop. The rest of the team must gang rebound as well. If just a fraction of NBA players followed their own shots, they would have many more second chance opportunities and score more points.

So the Nuggets have some things to work on starting against the Nets, but heading into the game Tuesday, they have some positives to look forward to as well.

Carmelo Anthony was better than his usual self and played arguably the best game yet this season with 30 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists Saturday. Melo’s 30 points in the game made it the ninth time in 13 games he’s scored over 30, but the Nuggets are only 5-4 when he does so. Meaning that while Anthony’s scoring is appreciated; Denver needs others to step up as well.

One player that started making lots of noise on the court last week was JR Smith. In three games last week, Smith scored 29, nine, and 19 points, and he was a major reason why the Nuggets won in Chicago Saturday. Smith put in 12 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter, which helped secure Denver’s 112-93 over the Bulls. The most amazing of his points was a run-out two-handed windmill dunk that was an exclamation point on the win.

Following the game, George Karl said, "He's an explosive player. I thought we ran a couple of plays that got him going.''

Certainly Smith’s athleticism and scoring will be needed for Denver to win even against sorry opponents, as well Chauncey Billups’ leadership and Nene’s inside presence.

So as Denver starts likely their easiest stretch of the season, they cannot overlook anyone they face. As long as they keep their focus and composure, the Nuggets should be able to win four, if not all five games and stretch their lead in the Northwest.