It Might Be Time To Start Giving The Denver Nuggets The Respect They Rightfully Deserve

AAron Ontiveroz/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images. Getty Images.

For a team that was in 1st place in the West for the final 100+ days of the regular season, it always felt like people weren't ready to believe in what the Nuggets were doing. I don't want to say people called them a fraud #1 seed, but there certainly wasn't the level of belief or respect that lower seeds within the same conference were getting heading into the playoffs.

From the outside as someone who isn't a Nuggets fan, it felt like the vibe was more waiting for the Nuggets to choke as it was the expectation that they would make a deep run. That was always funny to me because this is a team that showed everyone what they could do when they actually had their intended roster. Some playoff failures while missing your #2 and #3 option shouldn't define you, and in most cases, this was a big-time prove-it postseason (and still is).

Suddenly, here the Nuggets are. They are winners of 6 of their first 7 games and currently have won 3 straight. Up 2-0 on the superteam Suns, they have a team many expected to come out of the West in a bit of a panic mode. 

I could make the case that maybe outside of the Heat, the Nuggets have been the best team in the playoff field from either conference. All that talk about Nikola Jokic being exposed defensively by playoff offenses? Where is it? Because not only is he dominating right now

But guess how that defense has looked? Since the playoffs began, the Denver Nuggets have the 4th ranked defense in the field! Of teams still alive, it's actually the 3rd best. So far in the 2nd round, the Nuggets own the #1 defense against a team that employs both Kevin Durant and Devin Booker! 

As any Nuggets fan I'm sure will tell you, there are two areas that usually do the Nuggets in. The first is the defensive end of the floor. They've always had an explosive offense, but the lack of stops always bit them in the ass. Last year, they were dead last with a 121.9 Drtg. The year before, they were 13th at 122.1. In the bubble, it was 12th at 115.0

This year, they're at 107.5 for the playoffs and 102.1 in this series against the Suns. That is a HUGE improvement, so it should be no surprise that they're 6-1. 

The other area of death for the Nuggets has been the non-Jokic minutes. It's similar to Steph Curry or Embiid in the sense that the second those guys step off the floor, their teams usually tank. What's interesting so far in these playoffs is we still see a dropoff in the offense when Jokic sits (119 vs 106), but everything else? The Nuggets have more than survived. Their defense skyrockets from a Drtg to 113 to 86 which is awesome. Overall net rating? The Nuggets have been a +19.2 this year with Jokic off the floor. So far against the Suns, the Nuggets have a +16 net rating without Jokic. 

So what does this tell you? Partly that the Suns are doing a terrible job of making the Nuggets pay for subbing out Jokic. Partly their depth/roster is much better than in previous years because their firepower is back in the lineup. And maybe most importantly, maybe it's time to give this Nuggets team the respect they don't just deserve but have earned.

I suppose it's hard to win the non Jokic minutes when you're a Suns team that continues to get absolutely nothing from your depth. In Game 1, the Suns reserves had no player over 7 points. In Game 2, they had only two bench players score, and neither one had more than 2 points. Add in that CP3 left with a groin injury, and the Suns might be cooked before they even get back to their home floor.

Of course, there's going to be national hype around teams like the Lakers and Warriors. They have the stars and the history that puts asses in the seats. But through this point, the Western Conference playoffs have shown us what everyone should have already known. The best team in this conference is the Denver Nuggets. Especially this version that suddenly defends and can survive without Jokic on the floor. That was probably their biggest question heading into the playoffs, and they've passed those tests with flying colors.