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Denver Nuggets are the #1 seed for the first time in franchise history!



But unfortunately, according to bookmakers, the two teams with the best chances to win West are the Nuggets and the Suns, supposed to meet each other already in the conference semifinal. This 2023 playoff bracket will turn into a full-scale nightmare if our 1st round opponent will be healthy Lakers (fortunately they just need a home win vs Wolves to escape us).

LET'S GO NUGGETS!


EDIT:

Good! We escaped the Lakers after they just beat the Wolves in a crazy overtime game.

Wolves and Pells are individually one of the best teams in the NBA, but Zion is out and the Wolves are in a mess (but still dangerous).

THE J0KER wrote:Good! We escaped the Lakers after they just beat the Wolves in a crazy overtime game.

Wolves and Pells are individually one of the best teams in the NBA, but Zion is out and the Wolves are in a mess (but still dangerous).

As a result, Warriors, Lakers and the Grizzlies are all in the same bracket. If Denver gets that far, only one of these three will be an opponent. The Suns look like the most difficult opponent the Nuggets will face in their bracket, assuming they don't overlook their first round opponent.

Tonight we learn Denver's opponent in the first round. OKC has a good shot because it sounds like both Gobert and KAT are questionable for the wolves.

I don't know it anyone has a "take" on which team is more formidable and will win tonight but Denver should advance past either in the first round,

Call me crazy, but healthy Wolves are the TOP10 NBA team in terms of individual quality of their 5+1 starting lineup but they have this season some big problems with KAT's injury (played less than 30 games) and the team's chemistry.

But the Nuggets 5+1 are TOP5 for sure, and we have a home-court advantage.

Thinking back to the beginning of the season, there are certainly some surprises in the playoffs this year.

Did anyone project the Warriors as below the top-3? Perhaps a few did, but I don't think many did.
Did anyone project the Kings as top-3? I seriously doubt it.
Mavericks out of the playoffs?
Heat at the bottom of the East bracket?
Weren't the Bulls & Raptors both projected as playoff teams?
Trailblazers and Hornets weren't projected to be contenders, but I doubt anyone expected them to finish at 400 & 330.

One of my favorite quotes was (I'll let the author remain anonymous):

The Detroit Pistons traded for Bojan Bogdanovic in a move that looked to send a big message. They’re proving that they want to win some games and even make the playoffs now, and that they trust their young’uns to have a breakout similar to the Memphis Grizzlies’.

On paper, the Pistons have one of the most exciting teams in the league. They could actually upset a contender any given night, especially at home. But once again, we wouldn’t get our hopes too high when we’re talking about such a young roster.

Oops, talk about not getting hopes too high!

Looking like we'll be the only HIGHER SEEDED team to win today. GO NUGGETS.....Kendrick Perkins showing his lack of basketball knowledge again

Clippers extending the series would be huge, all Durant, Booker and CP3 played more than 40 minutes and stamina is one of their main weaknesses. They showed a huge lack of chemistry playing together and they had an issue with offensive rebounds, let's see how the series evolves.

Amazing Craig and horrible Hyland. He was being targeted continuously and his shot was not falling.

Manolito wrote:Clippers extending the series would be huge, all Durant, Booker and CP3 played more than 40 minutes and stamina is one of their main weaknesses. They showed a huge lack of chemistry playing together and they had an issue with offensive rebounds, let's see how the series evolves.

Amazing Craig and horrible Hyland. He was being targeted continuously and his shot was not falling.

Have to agree with that, same sentiments for the MEM-LAL series. The longer that one goes, the more fatigued the Flakers will be.

Suns won, but KD played 44 minutes, Booker 45 and CP3 38. If this is a 6 or longer game series, I do think they will be exhausted against us. Their bench is even worse

Only team in the West with a chance to sweep. looking very possible. Most West matchups look to go six games or more, could bode well for us, wearing every other team down, wait until they come to the Mile High air. Murray has to be close to the top in playoff scoring so far.

*EDIT* Guess SAC has the same opportunity, my bad

Uncle Jeff looking to get a ring before he retires

skywalker33 wrote:Only team in the West with a chance to sweep. looking very possible. Most West matchups look to go six games or more, could bode well for us, wearing every other team down, wait until they come to the Mile High air. Murray has to be close to the top in playoff scoring so far.

4-1 would be great enough to be fresh for a more competitive round 2.

Refs doing their part for the Flakers last night, seem to be controlling the flow to the Finals throughout the League. MEM had 21 FTA to the LAL's 31

Just what we need, some more crooked refs to worry about

skywalker33 wrote:Refs doing the part for the Flakers last night, seem to be controlling the flow to the Finals. MEM has 21 FTA to the LAL's 31

The Lakers cheat as usual in LA, but big credit to their front office for what they do during the trade deadline this winter. They not only get rid of Russ' league-worst contract but managed to get D'Angelo Russell, Rui Hachimura, Jarred Vanderbilt, Malik Beasley, and three Nuggets 2nd round picks, and also not gave up undrafted Austin Reaves who lately have sensational breakthroughs right from nowhere.

It's not their TEAM, coaches, or their fan base that matters, it's the NBA , their refs and their desire to have a big market/high profile team in the Finals, we saw that in the Bubble.

Looks like we're inviting PHX for round two, gotta take out Booker and run the crap out of KD and CP3, what we have on our bench vs what they have should be a BIG advantage for us, especially if we can run the old guys to the bench

This is the moment we all have been waiting during three years. Roster fully healthy, "comfortable" first round series and HCA.

I think Jokic has suffered a lot being guarded by Gobert and KAT. Despite memes, Gobert is elite post defender and KAT is huge. It has been a very physical series for him. He has traditionally not performed well against Ayton, but I think he will excel this time. Ayton has not evolved defensively in the last two seasons and Jokic is in a different dimension. MPJ must be involved much more in the game, we need him to average 18ppg consistently. Murray has always killed the Suns (he has like 12-3 record in his career), he will be guarded by CP3 so I am waiting good production.

Concerning the rest, I think Suns are a good matchup for us. KCP, BB and CB can somehow slow down Booker. I think Malone should use Nnaji and Peyton Watson a few minutes on Durant to make him work during all 45 minutes he will play. Gordon experiment as backup center is over, focus exclusively on Durant. Green should be enough with Biyombo / Landale

Bench will be X factor. Suns bench is non existent, but Payne is heathy and will give them a big boost. Their big 3 will have a ton of minutes. It will be a long series, we have to make it very physical as we are younger.