The Denver Nuggets have stayed afloat despite dealing with key injuries throughout the season.
With less than two weeks remaining in the 2025-26 NBA regular season, it’s almost time to start looking ahead to playoff basketball. There’s still plenty at stake when it comes to seeding and postseason matchups, especially in the Western Conference.
At the moment, a mere 3.5 games separate the third-place Los Angeles Lakers (49-26) from the Houston Rockets (45-29) in sixth. The top six teams in the West, the Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs, Lakers, Denver Nuggets, Minnesota Timberwolves and Rockets, should remain steady through the final day of the season on Apr. 12, barring catastrophic fall-offs from Houston and Minnesota. However, what remains up in the air is who will secure home-court advantage and which matchups we’ll see in the first round.
The Nuggets, who are the fourth seed with a 48-28 record, seem to be peaking at just the right time. They’re riding a six-game winning streak and are 9-2 over their last 11 games. Aaron Gordon, Peyton Watson and Christian Braun, who have combined to miss 103 total outings this year, are all back to give Denver a mostly healthy roster for the first time since mid-November. With that being said, let’s dig into five reasons why they have what it takes to make a deep run in the playoffs.Â
1. Elite offense
Through 76 contests, Denver’s offense ranks first in scoring (121.3 ppg), three-point percentage (39.5), offensive rating (120.7), effective field goal percentage (57.5), true shooting percentage (61.5) and total points scored (9,216). They’re second in field goal percentage (49.5), and rank fifth in assists per game (28.8) and free throw accuracy (80.6).Â
The Nuggets can get it done in myriad ways on offense. The production and efficiency are staggering when considering four of their top eight players in Gordon, Watson, Braun and Nikola Jokić all missed extended time through different portions of the season. Despite the injuries and adversity Denver faced for a majority of the year, the emergence of Peyton Watson as a legitimate two-way wing greatly improves their chances of claiming a second championship in the last four seasons. The 23-year-old is posting career-best numbers in scoring (14.8), 3-pointers made (1.5) and percentage (41.5), free throw percentage (73.0%), rebounds (4.9), assists (2.1), steals (0.9), minutes (30.0) and plus-minus (3.6).
2. Joker’s excellence
During his most recent MVP-winning campaign in 2023-24, Nikola Jokić averaged 26.4 ppg, 12.4 rpg, 9.0 apg, 1.4 spg and 0.9 bpg on 58.3 / 35.9 / 81.7 shooting splits and a ridiculous 65.0% true shooting across 79 appearances. Through 60 outings this season, the Joker is averaging 27.9 ppg, 12.9 rpg, 10.8 apg (career-high), 1.4 spg and 0.8 bpg on 57.3 / 38.8 / 82.8 splits while compiling a 67.4 TS%. He leads the NBA in rebounding, assists, triple-doubles (31), player efficiency rating (32.5), assist percentage (51.4) and offensive box plus/minus (10.1).
After missing 16 games from Dec. 30 to Jan. 29 with a hyperextended knee, Jokić looked a bit rusty over 11 appearances in February. He still posted tremendous averages of 25.6 points, 14.0 rebounds and 9.6 assists, but his efficiency took a bit of a hit (46.6 / 31.1 / 77.2). With only six games remaining for Denver, the three-time MVP has looked more like himself through March. In 16 contests during that span, he averaged 25.7 ppg, 13.6 rpg, 11.6 apg, 1.5 spg and 0.9 bpg on 58.0 / 33.3 / 83.0 splits. Jokić is rounding into masterful form at exactly the right time.
3. Outstanding one-two punch
We’ve discussed the greatness of the former MVP, but his longtime teammate and co-superstar, Jamal Murray, has been just as impactful. Murray earned the first All-Star selection of his nine-year professional tenure, posting career-best figures in scoring (25.5 ppg), FG% (48.4), 3P% (42.8), 3PM (3.2), FTM (4.7) and FTA (5.3), rebounds (4.4), assists (7.2), double-doubles (17) and individual ORTG (124.0).
When Denver needed him to step up in the wake of Jokić’s knee injury in December, Murray responded brilliantly. Across 12 appearances from Dec. 30 – Jan. 29, Murray popped off with averages of 27.8 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 8.3 apg, 1.0 spg and 0.6 bpg on splits of 49.6 / 40.5 / 86.7 in 36.4 minutes a night to keep his team afloat. We’re seeing the best version of the Nuggets’ point guard, which he emphatically proved with a 53-point outburst on Mar. 25 in a thrilling win against Dallas.
4. Deep second unit
It’s no secret that playoff basketball is much different from that of the regular-season variety. Rotations tighten, starters tend to play more minutes and individual matchups become magnified. Nonetheless, it’s crucial to have a solid bench that coaches and teams can rely on throughout the grind of a seven-game series.
The Nuggets feel like they can go two-deep at every position with a bench consisting of Tim Hardaway, Jr., Tyus Jones, Bruce Brown, Julian Strawther, Jonas ValanÄiÅ«nas and Spencer Jones, who has started 37 of his 64 games with the rash of injuries they’ve faced this season. Assuming they’re fully healthy come playoff time, Watson and Cameron Johnson could be added to that list as well. Following their disappointing loss to the eventual champions in OKC in Game 7 of the 2024-25 semifinals, Denver made positive changes to its reserves that should pay off greatly in the playoffs.
5. Championship DNA
Something that won’t necessarily show up in the stat sheet and final results is playoff experience and championship pedigree. For this Nuggets team, the core of Nikola Jokić, Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon was integral to their 2022-23 championship team. Christian Braun and Peyton Watson, although rookies at the time, were there too, and Bruce Brown, who Denver brought back in free agency last summer due to his role in that title-winning run, is another piece of this puzzle that can’t be overlooked.
Add in Braun and Watson’s growth as two-way players over the last two-plus seasons, along with their knowledge of what it takes to win at the highest level, it’s not wild to suggest that this version of the Nuggets is better equipped to be one of the last teams standing come June.
