[photo from San Antonio Express News]

 

No.

That’s the short and completely accurate answer. No. If you’re talking about an NBA championship, then no. The Nuggets are not there yet. They are well on their way and in one of the best positions in the NBA to evolve into a dynasty, but as of right now, they are not there.

They cannot beat the Warriors in a best of 7 series. I’d be surprised if they could beat the Rockets in a best of 7. Due to some genius on the part of Mike Malone (and one well-timed buzzer-beater from Westbrook), the Nuggets won’t have to play either of those teams until the Western Conference Finals. That is a massive break. Playing the Rockets in the second round only to have to face the Warriors at the end of that was not something I wanted to witness.

But they may not even make it to the WCF. They are having a really tough time against the Spurs and they have played terribly for the past few months. Game 4 was the first time they looked like the Nuggets in a long time.

I said all along that I didn’t want to play the Spurs. They were the one team in the West that I didn’t want to meet up with in the first round. The Nuggets beat OKC four times this year. Our bench almost beat Portland. I’m not scared of the Jazz and the Clippers don’t deserve to be in the conversation. The Spurs have probably the greatest coach of all time and the Nuggets are horribly inexperienced. If anyone can exploit the weaknesses of a very young team, it’s Pop. I was terrified of this matchup. I still am. We’re not in the clear. We re-took home court advantage, but the Spurs showed that they could beat us at home. This series would probably be over if it wasn’t for a miraculous run of play from Murray in the fourth quarter of game 2.

If we can make it past the Spurs, I don’t see us losing in round 2. But it won’t matter to me if we do. I want the Nuggets to win one series, that’s it.

It is not this team’s time. They are young and growing. They are learning. They are gaining experience. Beating a historic team like San Antonio, beating a perennial winner in Pop, in the playoffs is massive experience. That is what really matters. We won’t beat Golden State, so we should focus on winning one round. In a year or two, when Golden State has dissolved, then we can make our run at it. By then we won’t be a team without any playoff experience.

And I can’t wait for that.