Amidst the unfathomable 15-game winning streak the Nuggets have reeled off, the winning has overshadowed some weaknesses.
The small holes in their game go unnoticed every time Kenneth Faried crushes an alley-oop or JaVale McGee throws someone's shot into the crowd like a Justin Verlander fastball.
Denver is undoubtedly on top of the basketball world at the moment (along with Miami), but it isn't too difficult to see where they are weak without nitpicking. They have skyrocketed to third place in the West and have played out of their minds for the better part of a month.
Everyone loves an underdog, but there are lines already drawn in the sand. The facets that could eventually prove to be Denver's undoing are already quite apparent.
While McGee, Faried and Andre Iguodala are solid if not great individual defenders, as a whole the Nuggets rank towards the bottom of the league in defense.
Primarily, Denver gets consistently lit up from deep. They are third to last in the NBA in three-pointers given up at over eight a night. Their winning streak fell to a New Orleans squad that proceeded to shoot 14-for-25 from three and dismantled the Nuggets down in the Big Easy.
We all know the Nuggets can light teams up as well as anyone, but there are teams that can stir it up if involved in a shootout with this team and keep right up with them.
If they are going to play the brand of basketball that they do, it will be tough to go deep into the playoffs if they don't tighten up their perimeter defense.
Danilo Gallinari and Faried can tend to have problems with athletic 3's and stretch-4's. Their competition in the West has a handful of players at those positions that will make their lives difficult going forward.
There is no doubt whatsoever that acquiring Andre Iguodala payed dividends for this franchise. It made them a more well-rounded team and helped fill a void left by the departure of Carmelo Anthony.
Teams assembled this way often encounter trouble when they collide with a superstar. The 2012 76ers, 2011 Grizzlies and 2007 Warriors all made spirited runs through the playoffs before reaching their downfall. In the NBA more than other professional leagues, superstars trump all.
Aside from the 2004 Pistons, no team has won a team without a bona fide superstar in decades. Denver is not a slave to past statistics, so it will always be plausible that a "superstar-by-committee" approach could get it done.
Ty Lawson has proven time and time again that he can hit huge shots down the stretch. The problem is that it is difficult to rely upon a different player night in and night out during crunch time. Each player on this team has a defined role, none of whom are completely reliable with the game on the line.
Denver's ascension to the top of the conference will garner them home-court advantage in Round 1, but what happens after that?
The Nuggets have not won in San Antonio since 2009. Right now the Spurs are atop the Western Conference and the path to the Finals will likely run through there.
During their 15-game streak, Denver only defeated two teams on the road with records over .500, and one was a highly controversial victory in Chicago in overtime.
The game before this streak started, Denver was blasted in Washington after John Wall and Co. threw up 119 points on them. They have only held one of their past 13 opponents on the road to under 99 points.
When the altitude of the Mile High City is not in play, Denver loses one of its biggest advantages. They are unable to run up and down the court and dunk all over teams on the road the same way they do at home.
The Nuggets love to get up and down the court as a collective unit and run teams out of the gym, especially in their high altitude. They have the innate ability to wear teams down, resulting in a number of huge fourth quarters for their offense.
They will not always have that luxury. There will be times when veteran teams will slow down the pace and force Denver to play their game. When this happens, Denver's light interior becomes an issue.
Denver collectively shoots 63 percent from right at the basket, a testament to them leading the league in dunks for the fifth time in 15 seasons. McGee, Iguodala and Faried all rank in the top eight in the league.
The problem arises when the Nuggets are forced to expand their game. McGee, Faried and starting center Kosta Koufos are not bruisers down low. They rely on their point guards to find them in ideal spots for easy dunks.
Denver takes six more shots per game at the rim than any other team. Smart defensive teams with size like Oklahoma City, Memphis, San Antonio and the Clippers will put Denver at risk of shooting much more from mid-range if they collide in the playoffs, pushing them farther from the basket.
The Nuggets struggle mightily from outside the restricted area, also ranking dead last in mid-range field-goal percentage from 16-23 feet at a paltry 33 percent.
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