Denver Nuggets
The Nuggets had been in the driver’s seat for the eight seed in the Western Conference, but they simply haven’t kept up with the Portland Trail Blazers over the past month. While the Blazers went on a 13-3 tear in March, Denver languished at 8-7, squandering its lead, along with the tiebreaker in a 122-113 loss in Portland.
The team’s trade of center Jusuf Nurkic to Portland for center Mason Plumlee (with some other chips involved) is at the root cause of this. Nurkic is absolutely crushing it since moving to Portland, averaging 18.7 points and 12.8 rebounds, while Plumlee is at 13.6 points and 9.9 rebounds in Denver. The Nuggets have also struggled as a team with Plumlee on the court with a -5.9 net rating.
Denver isn’t playing badly. Center Nikola Jokic is still dominating the league, and an 8-7 month isn’t all too bad for a team that’s under .500. However, they are in the midst of a playoff race, which requires them to outplay Portland, even when Portland plays incredibly well. That simply hasn’t happened, and it will likely cost the Nuggets a playoff berth, along with the relevance that has eluded them in recent years.