2 Things the Denver Nuggets Need to Survive and 1 They Don’t

The Denver Nuggets are limping home after dropping the final two games of a long road trip.

The Denver Nuggets two losses in Charlotte and Atlanta have dropped them to third in the West and second in the Northwest division.  Things are just that tight in the wild, wild West. Remember, last season, they missed the playoffs but were just three more wins from being the third seed.  Again, the West is crazy like that.

Everyone is aware of the injuries but let’s review:  Paul Millsap, who has been playing his best basketball as a Nugget is out 3-4 weeks with a broken toe.  Gary Harris is also out for 3-4 weeks with a hip injury.  Will Barton and Isaiah Thomas remain sidelined with hip injuries.  Jamal Murray took a kick to the shin from Atlanta’s Justin Anderson and though he is listed as questionable, he is nowhere near 100%.

So, the 17-9 Nuggets are facing their first bit of real adversity for the season.  It’s vital that they survive this, we’ve listed the injuries and the two-game losing streak but there are also a couple of positives to build on.  The Nuggets play just four games over the next 13 days and may get some of their wounded back in that stretch.

Denver also has five of their next eight at the friendly confines of Pepsi Center to finish 2018.  three of those are against bad San Antonio and Phoenix teams.

Keep in mind, staying afloat through the injuries means .500 or better.  Tough contests with Oklahoma City, Toronto, the Clippers and freaky good Luka Doncic and the Mavericks are also on the schedule this month. They need to win the three against the bad teams and take one of the tough contests that start Monday night with the visiting Memphis Grizzlies.

Here’s two specific things that need to happen and one that doesn’t to make that real: