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The NBA has been amazing this season. There are so many teams that have a shot at the title if things go their way. Some of them are in a better position, obviously, but there are also talented squads like the Brooklyn Nets and Los Angeles Lakers that are in the play-in but cannot be discounted. One such team, right around the play-in, is the Denver Nuggets, and their story is inspiring. They are down two of their three best players, yet they are fighting hard in the tough Western Conference behind an MVP candidate in Nikola Jokic. While it is an obvious long shot at this point, here are three reasons why the Nuggets will make and win the 2022 NBA Finals.
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Reasons why the Nuggets are winning the 2022 NBA Finals
Nikola Jokic
It is simply true at this point: Nikola Jokic might be the best player in the world right now. The way that the Serbian center has played for the Nuggets, especially in the last few seasons, is mesmerizing. He won MVP last season, averaging 26.4 points, 10.8 rebounds, 8.3 assists, and 1.3 steals. This year, he has bumped his rebounds to 13.5 per game and increased his efficiency from the field, going from 56.6% to 57.7%. These are truly elite numbers for the Serbian, as he mounts up his case for MVP again.
However, it is not only about the pure numbers. Jokic's playstyle and his ability to do everything on the court is why he is so dangerous to plan for in any playoff matchup.
For instance, the Nuggets star only has eight games this year in which he did not score at least 20 points. Aside from a really terrible outing versus the Oklahoma City Thunder in which Jokic put up 13 points, seven boards, and just three assists, he managed to influence the game outside of scoring in every other game. He scored eight versus the Trail Blazers in late February but got 18 boards, dished out 11 assists, and had one steal. Against the Bulls in early December, Jokic shot a terrible 6-of-17 but dished out 15 assists while adding 12 rebounds and two steals. The point is that Jokic is not a conventional superstar who you need to stop from scoring. Rather, he is an all-around threat and in basically any matchup Denver has, they will have the absolute best player on the court.
Facing and defeating adversity
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Adversity is a normal thing for any successful NBA team. There are tense, hard, even depressing moments, as there are only a handful of teams close to perfection. The only ones that come to mind are the 73-9 Warriors, who still barely escaped the Western Conference Finals and ended up losing versus the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals, and the 72-10 Bulls, who are likely the closest thing to perfection we had in the NBA.
However, there have only been a handful of teams that have faced as much adversity as these Nuggets. Out of their three best players, only Jokic has been a constant. Jamal Murray has not played as he continues to recover from a torn ACL, while Michael Porter Jr. only appeared in nine games before undergoing another back surgery. It is unclear if either will be back for a playoff run, but there is still some hope it will happen.
However, hitting that adversity wall has made the Nuggets resilient. Additionally, they have formed a sort of next-man-up mentality, which is incredibly important for any team in the league. In all honesty, while the NBA roster is 15 players long, there are only eight or nine who get a real shot in the postseason. Due to injuries and other issues they have faced, the Nuggets can slide into the postseason without any worry. Even if one of their players, of course not named Nikola Jokic, falls with an injury, there will be someone there ready to take his place. They have battled all year, and the Nuggets will be entering the playoffs with a desire to show the world they belong right there.
Excellent form coming into the postseason that is expected to continue
According to StatMuse, the Nuggets have the eighth-best record in the NBA after the All-Star break, winning 11 of their last 17 games. Now, that does mean that there are seven teams better than them record-wise, but some of them got major boosts, such as the Sixers, who got James Harden to pair up with Joel Embiid. There is also the Mavericks, who clearly solved a ton of their issues by dealing Kristaps Porzingis to the Washington Wizards for Spencer Dinwiddie and Davis Bertans. The Nuggets are putting up this respectable record while not adding any notable new pieces nor getting any players back from injuries yet. That is what makes it impressive, and they should have the momentum entering the playoffs.
The Nuggets have seven games left in the regular season, and four of them are at home. They only have one matchup with an outright playoff team, the Memphis Grizzlies, while the other games are either against play-in teams or franchises that are simply out of any contention this year. Thus, due to the quality and form of their roster, we can expect that the Nuggets win at least five of their remaining seven games, with a special emphasis on the April 1 matchup with the Minnesota Timberwolves. If they win at least five, they will be entering the postseason with some great momentum and should be showing their quality from the first-round series onwards.
