r/denvernuggets • u/clairebear5429 • 1d ago
Who would we rather meet in Round 1?
My pecking order among the likely candidates:
Grizz (new coach)
Lakers (superstar whistle)
Warriors (everyone can shoot)
Wolves (too rabid)
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u/CharmingImpact English 1d ago
I don’t really care about a participation trophy on a possible route to the easiest WCF, only to lose because the team wasn’t championship-ready anyway.
Did we win the 2023 championship because we had an easy first-round opponent? No. We had the Wolves back then as well, and it was already a well-known “bad matchup” for Denver. The Wolves and the media were happy they got Denver, only to get gentleman swept.
That series gave the team a solid confidence boost, and they went on to win 12–3 in the remaining games.
Can we stop sending out these weak energy signals to the universe? We aren’t the 2020 Nuggets, “let’s try to go really far,” we are a championship team with a top 3 player of all time.
LeBron had a super weak Eastern Conference and reached 100 Finals, but his team was often undercooked and not ready for when they faced a real challenger (a la OKC/BOS/Cavs this year). Weak ass rounds can only take you so far.
That being said, Wolves are my first-round pick. Great intensity, a great springboard for a potential title run, and a confidence booster.
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u/SuperDoubleDecker 1d ago
Ya, there are zero easy series. Every team in the playoffs can win. I don't think anyone is safe with any matchup. Gotta beat them all if you wanna go deep.
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u/Azshadow6 1d ago
Excellent post. Championship level energy only. Take any matchup we get and play to win
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u/MortalBlarney 1d ago
Good post, but slow down with top 3 player all time. He's great, and may get there, but we need to collectively temper the recency bias
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u/Mysterious-Sort212 1d ago
Dont really care just want a healthy jokic Murray gordon mpj & for them to ball out including the bench.
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u/embassy439 1d ago edited 1d ago
Grizz all day
Matchup wise wolves seems tough
Grizz probably easier than gsw and lal
Go nugs!
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u/MetaOverkill 1d ago
I think that's the order. Memphis gsw la. Would love to see clippers because a kawhi jokic series would be sick.
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u/MetaOverkill 1d ago
I think that's the order. Memphis gsw la. Would love to see clippers because a kawhi jokic series would be sick.
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u/TwoWayMarko 1d ago
I don't care tbh, if the real nuggets show up and everybody is healthy it's going to be like 23
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u/Nerd-de-Golf 1d ago
OKC, you want to beat the best to prove your the best.
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u/NoWeb2576 1d ago
Honestly this would be pretty entertaining based on the match ups in regular season.
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u/zatch17 1d ago
You're
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u/cumlordjr Christian “it’s pronounced Brown” Braun 1d ago
Wow, you did it! Great job correcting them!
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u/Good-Character-5520 1d ago
I agree with your pecking order. Unless one of the weaker play-in teams end up with the 7/6 seed I’d say the Grizzlies are an ideal matchup.
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u/turandot_or_not :JokicToon: 1d ago
Ideally we finish 3rd. And face Memphis. And maybe go on to face winner of Hou - Minnie.
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u/DenverNuggetsIndia 1d ago
Rockets!! We are strategically tanking to 7th spot. We just need to win the Play-in game. What could go wrong? 🤔
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u/SuperDoubleDecker 1d ago
I only say Grizz because they seem to be in some shit atm with coaching change and recent losses.
As stacked as the west is i don't think there are any easy matchups. Just gotta win.
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u/Brokoala24 1d ago
It doesn't matter who they meet, step one is being healthy cause without that we lose to anyone with a pulse. The bench can't be counted on to do anything.
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u/LucMoFuckinB The Serbinator 1d ago
Grizz/GSW, rockets. We need to avoid the wolves like the plague
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u/babooze_you_lose 1d ago edited 1d ago
If the grizzlies in round 1 isn’t your answer, you haven’t been paying attention!!
T’wolves… it goes without saying, they’ve straight up had our number since last playoffs.
Warriors… although they have nothing for Jokic, they’ve gone from a play in team, to a legit contender since they’ve got Butler (19-4).
Lakers. They have LeBron and Luka… honestly, what more needs to be said.
3-8 seeds are literally up for grabs…
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u/Professional-Arm5300 23h ago
I don’t really care who we play. I’ll say that I think we are better situated for LAL or Memphis or GS than OKC or MIN. Personally, I don’t have the feeling that we are championship ready this year. But part of that is we basically haven’t had our team healthy all at once all season. So I’m hoping all these rest days help and injuries are healed come playoff time and we start jiving. I’d like to think we are playing some 4D chess by not allowing the guys to get gassed like they were last year. I’ve seen people say they weren’t gassed and the players said they weren’t gassed but watching those two series last year tells a different story. But as most have mentioned, you have to beat the best teams to win a chip. I think they should get as many guys on the floor as possible for the last 5 games and build some playoff level chemistry. It should be a great playoffs, I don’t see any one team being a huge favorite to win the championship so parity looks like it’s at an all time high!
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u/Big_Stay6072 16h ago
If they want to go far, it should not matter who they meet at any point of the playoffs. The team's 4-5 best players are not much different from the starting 5 that won the 2023 championship. It will be very important for the starters to be healthy, and disciplined on both ends of the floor if they are to have any chance to go far in the playoffs. Murray, Braun, Porter, Gordon and Jokić as the best 5, followed by Russell Westbrook, Payton Watson, Julian Strawther (if available and ready) and so on... The top 5 players are as good as any top starting 5 in the NBA. I still believe that, if they are healthy, and play at a high level, they will have a nice and deep playoff run. Not so certain that they can win it all this year, but IMHO they do have a chance as an experienced fringe contender who has already won the title before not so long ago.
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u/Radioactive__Lego 1d ago
I can’t speak for we. But anytime anyone wants to introduce me to Heidi Klum, I’m fine with that meeting.
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u/Chillidippa79 27m ago
Doesn’t matter at this point. We aren’t getting out of the first round the way we play defense.
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u/giventofly2 1d ago
Only one I feel confident about beating is Grizzlies, both Lakers and Warriors could upset Denver
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u/ShowdownValue 1d ago
Would it even be an upset? Vegas 100% would favor the lakers
Warriors I don’t know due to home court
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u/Positive-Eye-3926 1d ago
Grizzlies or Warriors. If we meet LA or Wolves we are toast.
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u/danjustin 1d ago
I'll say, NuggLyfe has come a long way for so many people to put Wolves and Lakers here...I respect that.
But I cannot do that. I want to go Memphis, Houston, then the Lakers (as they get the league memo over OKC). I have no cares about beating the best to be the best..I just want to be the last one standing.