Denver is in a rough spot
The Denver Nuggets are coming off an excellent regular season in which they finished with the second-best record in the Western Conference and were actually sitting atop the West for much of the season (you know, before the Warriors decided they wanted home-court throughout the playoffs).
However, they might’ve drawn the worst potential matchup for them. Despite the great regular season, this Nuggets team doesn’t simply doesn’t have the playoff experience and luster that the Spurs have. Plus, Gregg Popovich is arguably the greatest coach to ever roam the sidelines in an NBA game.
Not to take away from Mike Malone, who has done an excellent job over the past two seasons, but it’s not a fair position to be in. At times, it feels like Pop is playing chess while Malone is stuck playing checkers. Experience does that. Pop has it. Malone doesn’t.