There were periods during last night’s Denver Nuggets game that the five players on the court were water-bug point man Ty Lawson, defensive swing Arron Afflalo, newly back-in-town Wilson Chandler, burgeoning point forward (?) Danilo Gallinari and Al Harrington, in the midst of one of his better seasons. The Nugs lost 112-95 to a surgical Dallas Mavericks team led by the razor-sharp Dirk Nowitzki (these were strong reasons behind the defeat), but that lineup illustrates Denver — by stockpiling versatile forwards, raw, sometimes not-quite centers, and handing the keys to Lawson and the steady Andre Miller — as the NBA’s autonomous work-in-progress.
As currently built, and by the way coach George Karl is willing to embrace the unorthodox leanings of the roster, the Nuggets do not have a guidebook for continued success. The Nellie-ball Warriors of 2007 show similarities in that things happened on the fly, often as a result of the unusual lineups trotted out and opponents’ reactions to them, but in the end Golden State lacked size of any kind and also had Baron Davis, Stephen Jackson and Jason Richardson — all willing leaders and shot-takers during the ever-important crunch time portion of basketball. Denver has front court depth to throw at teams — with JaVale McGee waiting to be unleashed — yet they still seem to be figuring themselves out when it comes to producing consistent late-game or late-shot clock offense, mainly because almost everyone is as viable an option as the next guy.
With Harrington, Chandler, Afflalo and Gallo all looking to assert control over certain times — and all, to some extent, able to do so — the Nuggets have the feel of a team with so much balance, so many options, that the end of the spear gets dulled to some degree when they need it most. It’s not individuals just looking for personal numbers, though. When a team has so much good, but nothing quite great enough to stand above, the big moments could often be decided simply by who’s dribbling the ball. Usually this season that has meant Lawson, the guy with any real control of the offense because that’s what point guards do, serving as the de-facto number one option. The capable Lawson has responded with game-clinchers in big moments, and more than anything, simplification of the process for the time being.
Before those last minutes though, important as they are (and magnified in the playoffs), the Nuggets brand of hoisting (anyone, anywhere, in general), defense-slicing, team-passing and high energy of all — especially the bigs — is a fascinating watch. The Nuggets are a team purposely arranged to be unlike many others in the league. Sure, there are other unbalanced, maybe dysfunctional, rosters out there, but Denver stands as one of the few that, even without completely understanding itself yet, could pose a serious threat to the Western Conference in the postseason. Philadelphia has the same late-game uncertainty out East, but lacks the well-rounded balance in Denver (also, the Bulls and Heat are slight problems).
The multitude of lineups, looks and options that the Nuggets can throw out is their appeal and potential, but also their possible undoing. The Mavericks, their opponent last night, have shown the willingness to send adaptable, different lineups out all season. But when the game’s in the balance, few teams are as basic and deliberate. Denver does not have a Dirk Nowitzki-type option, and because of that the story will end different from night-to-night. With all the possible avenues, this makes the Nuggets constantly dangerous and possibly unsolvable, especially for themselves.
Griffin Gotta contributes to The Hoop Doctors and is a co-managing editor of Straight Outta Vancouver. The story arcs and infinite weirdness of the NBA are addictions he deals with every day. Email him at griffingotta at gmail dot com.
