1999-00: The Horse Returns to the Bench in a New Arena
Dan Issel, who led the Nuggets to their stunning playoff run in 1994, came down from the front office to try to rekindle that magic prior to the 1999-00 season. The Nuggets began play in the state-of-the-art Pepsi Center and immediately made their new home a tough place for opponents to play.
The offseason acquisition of Ron Mercer and the return of a healthy Raef LaFrentz gave the Nuggets a solid young nucleus along with Antonio McDyess and Nick Van Exel. The team was tough at home early in the year, winning 12 of its first 15 at home, including wins over the defending champion L.A. Lakers, San Antonio and Portland. However, they failed to find the same success on the road and teetered near the .500 mark for the first half of the season.
Unable to reach an agreement with the free-agent-to-be Mercer, the club dealt him to Orlando on Feb. 1, along with Chauncey Billups and Johnny Taylor in exchange for Tariq Abdul-Wahad, Chris Gatling and a future No. 1 pick. The Nuggets won their first game after the trade to move their record to 21-22, but a back-loaded road schedule knocked them out of contention. The Nuggets finished the season with a sparkling 25-16 record at home, but a disappointing 10-31 mark on the road. Still, the team improved its record for the second-straight season.
McDyess led the Nuggets in scoring (19.1 ppg) and rebounding (8.5 rpg). He also ranked ninth in the NBA in field goal percentage (.507). He scored 30 points and grabbed 21 rebounds against the L.A. Clippers on April 15. Nick Van Exel averaged 16.1 ppg and finished in a tie for second in the NBA in assists (9.0 apg).
Raef LaFrentz came back from a torn ACL to average 12.4 ppg, 7.9 rpg and 2.22 bpg. He led the way as the Nuggets became the 10th team in NBA history to have three players record at least 100 blocked shots (LaFrentz, 180; McDyess, 139; Keon Clark, 114).
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2000-01: Behind McDyess, the Improvement Continues
Antonio McDyess stepped onto the world stage by helping the United States earn a gold medal at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. He didn't stop there, averaging 20.8 ppg and 12.1 rpg en route to his first All-Star appearance.
Behind the play of McDyess and Nick Van Exel, the Nuggets finished 40-42, posting their most wins since the 1994-95 season. The Nuggets returned to dominance at home, finishing with a 29-12 mark, their best since '88-89.
While it was a great season, it ended on a sour note. The Nuggets raced to a 26-18 record and benefited from playing six more home games than road games. However, in February and March, they went just 9-19 and played eight more road games than home games. After being in contention for their first playoff berth since 1995, the team faded down the stretch.
McDyess led the team in scoring and rebounding. In addition, he posted a career-high 51 double-doubles, including a 40-point, 20-rebound game against Houston in November. Van Exel averaged 17.7 ppg and 8.5 apg to finish third in the league. Raef LaFrentz continued his improvement, averaing 12.9 ppg, 7.9 rpg and 2.64 bpg.
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2001-02: Turbulent Season Ends on Positive
What started out as a promising season, quickly took a turn for the worse. Three days into training camp, Antonio McDyess injured his knee and went on to miss all but 10 games. Without his presence, the team fought hard early and managed a 6-6 start, but after another starter, Tariq Abdul-Wahad went down, things were never the same.
The month of December was marred by Nick Van Exel's trade demand and Dan Issel's resignation. Assistant Coach Mike Evans took over the reigns, but the Nuggets never got back into playoff contention.
February brought with it a blockbuster trade as the Nuggets acquired Juwan Howard, Tim Hardaway, Donnell Harvey and a first round draft pick from Dallas in exchange for Van Exel, Raef LaFrentz, Abdul-Wahad and Avery Johnson. Once the newcomers became acquainted with the rest of the team, success followed. Although the Nuggets finished just 27-55, they did win their last six games at home and finished 8-8 over their final 16 contests.
Howard led the Nuggets in scoring following the trade, averaging 17.9 ppg and 7.9 rpg. Voshon Lenard averaged 11.3 ppg, primarily as a reserve and James Posey had career highs of 10.7 ppg, 5.9 rpg and 1.56 spg.
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2002-03: Denver Reaches Bottom, Begins Climb Back Up
The 2002-03 season was by no means the Nuggets best since joining the NBA in 1976. As a matter of fact, it was one of the absolute worst seasons in team history. Denver finished 17-65 on the year -- an overall record that was tied for the worst in the NBA (along with Cleveland) and set an NBA record for being the most games out of first place contention (43). Although the outcome was not desired, it definitely was not overly surprising considering the Nuggets were fielding one of the youngest teams in NBA history with seven different rookies seeing action throughout the course of the season. Despite the low points, there were some bright spots that simply cannot go unnoticed.
The performance of rookie forward/center Nene Hilario was without question a positive in a season with so many negatives being associated to it. The Brazilian big man tallied 10.5 ppg, 6.1 rpg and 1.59 spg in his 80 appearances, earning All-Rookie First Team honors in the process. Hilario finished the year ranking sixth in the entire NBA with a field goal percentage of .519 -- a figure that also set a new Nuggets rookie record. His 1.59 steals per game also led all NBA centers on the year and ranked 20th overall, which put him alongside the reigning No. 1 overall pick Yao Ming as the only rookies in 02-03 to rank in the Top-20 in two major statistical categories. With a rookie season like he had, Hilario undoubtedly solidified himself as a mainstay in the Nuggets rotation in the rebuilding years to come.
And rebuilding is definitely what the Nuggets have to look forward to after a dismal season like 2002-03. Finishing with the worst record in the NBA, the Nuggets managed to land the third overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft -- a draft that is sure to be looked at as one of the deepest in recent years. After LeBron James and Darko Milicic were taken first and second by Cleveland and Detroit, the Nuggets selected NCAA freshman phenom Carmelo Anthony with their selection. Despite being a freshman, Anthony single-handedly led his Syracuse Orangeman on an incredible run through the NCAA Tournament to claim the school's first-ever NCAA National Championship. The effects of adding an offensive monster like Anthony is sure to be significant after a season in which the Nuggets set a team record for lowest scoring average (84.2).
Juwan Howard continued his solid play from the end of the previous season as he led the Nuggets in both scoring and rebounding in 2002-03, averaging 18.4 ppg to go along with his 7.6 rpg. Rodney White averaged a career-best 9.0 ppg as one of the Nuggets primary options off the bench. The surprise performance of the season came from Junior Harrington, an undrafted rookie from Division II Wingate University. Harrington was the only player on the entire Nuggets roster to see action in all 82 games of the regular season, while he actually started 51 games at the point guard position and even finished the year ranking second in the NBA among rookies in assists with 3.4 apg.
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2003-04: Nuggets Finally Return to the Postseason
From the moment the Nuggets drafted Carmelo Anthony with the third overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft, there was a new buzz around the city of Denver. Before the season even began, there was a great deal of hype that this could finally be the turnaround season for the franchise.
Right from the get-go, Anthony was proving that he was worthy of all the preseason hype. In his sixth game as a rookie, Melo scored 30 points and became the youngest Nuggets rookie to reach 30 points since the ABA/NBA merger. Anthony continued his outstanding rookie season, being named the got milk? Western Conference Rookie of the Month five consecutive months (November, December, January, February, and March) and the NBA Player of the Week twice (3/14, 4/11). Carmelo finished his stellar rookie season averaging 21.0 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 1.2 steals per game. Despite his tremendous statistics, Anthony took second in the NBA Rookie of the Year voting.
In addition to a terrific season, Carmelo Anthony accomplished something even more amazing...he led the Denver Nuggets back to the NBA Playoffs for the first time since the 1994-95 season. The Nuggets as team pulled-off the biggest win/loss turnaround in NBA history for a team that had won less than 20 games the previous season. The Nuggets went from a record of 17-65 in 2002-03 to a record of 43-39 in 2003-04 - an improvement of 26 wins. Their 43-39 record, the franchise's best since 1989-90, was good enough to put them sixth in the Mindwest division and the eigth-seed in the Western Conference playoffs.
The Nuggets met the top-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves in the opening round of the 2003-04 NBA Playoffs. After dropping the first two games of the seven-game series at Minnesota, the Nuggets responded by crushing the Timberwolves by 21 points in Game Three, the first of two games in Denver. Unfortunately, the Nuggets could not hold on to win Game Four, losing by a mere two points to Minnesota. Down 3-1 instead of being tied 2-2, the Nuggets returned to Minnesota where they were defeated in their fifth and final game of the playoffs. Despite the first-round exit, the Nuggets closed out the 2003-04 season with a promising foundation for years to come.
Anthony led the Nuggets in scoring, averaging 21.0 ppg. Marcus Camby, who appeared in a career-high 72 games, led the team in rebounding with 10.1 rpg. Andre Miller had a solid first year as the Denver Nuggets point guard, averaging 14.8 ppg, 4.5 rpg and 6.1 apg. Reserve point guard Earl Boykins averaged career-highs in points (10.2), assists (3.6), and rebounds (1.7) during his first season with the Nuggets.
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2004-05: The Karl Era Begins
Jeff Bzdelik was fired after a slow 13-15 start to the season, and when assistant coach Michael Cooper couldn’t motivate the Nuggets any better (4-10), the Nuggets turned to George Karl to salvage a then-17-25 season.
All Karl did was lead the Nuggets on a furious 32-8 run--the best record in NBA history for a midseason coaching replacement--and a second-straight playoff appearance.
Carmelo Anthony again led the Nuggets in scoring with 20.8 ppg, while Marcus Camby’s career resurgence in the Mile High City continued, as he became the first Nuggets player to average a double-double since Antonio McDyess with averages of 10.3 ppg and 10.0 rpg. Camby finished third in the Defensive Player of the Year balloting and earned a spot on the All-Defensive Second Team after averaging 3.0 bpg to go along with his 10.0 rpg. But it was Earl Boykins who became the sparkplug of Karl’s uptempo Nuggets. The veteran guard notched career-highs in scoring (12.4 ppg) and assists (4.5 apg) and created matchup nightmares for opponents all season long.
The Nuggets closed the 2004-05 regular season with a 49-33 record, the best since Doug Moe led the Nuggets to a 54-28 record during the 1987-88 campaign. The 49 wins were good enough to land the Nuggets in the seventh seed for the Western Conference Playoffs, facing them with the second-seeded San Antonio Spurs.
Dreams of another major playoff upset, this time with Karl at the helm and not the victim (as he was with Seattle in 1994), were spurred by Denver’s 93-87 upset of the Spurs in the first game of their first-round matchup. However, the Spurs bounced back and swept through the next four games, wrapping up the series en route to their third NBA Title in seven years.
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2005-06: Nuggets Claim Northwest Division Title
The expectations were at an all-time high prior to the start of the season in 2005-06. After the amazing 32-8 run to close out 2004-05, the Nuggets were suddenly being mentioned in the same breath as the NBA's top title contenders.
Unfortunately, the Nuggets' season was heavily impacted by injuries directly from the beginning. On opening night in San Antonio, Nene went down with a season-ending knee injury after only three minutes of play. Throughout the rest of the season, Kenyon Martin and Marcus Camby both missed 26 games, Earl Boykins missed 22, and Eduardo Najera missed 15. In total, the Nuggets lost 237 player games due to injury in 2005-06, which was the third-most in the NBA behind Houston and Charlotte.
Despite all the injuries, the Nuggets still managed to win their first division title since 1987-88, marking the fifth in team history and the first since being realigned to the Northwest Division. The main factor behind Denver overcoming so many injuries was the masterful play of Carmelo Anthony. The third-year forward had undoubtedly his best season in the NBA, averaging a career-high 26.5 ppg while shooting a career-best .481 from the field. Anthony poured in 40+ points in four games (most by a Nugget since Michael Adams had six in 1990-91) and 30+ points in an impressive 28 games (most by a Nugget since Alex English had 29 in 1988-89). On 3/17/06 at Memphis, Anthony scored his 5,000th career point and became the second-youngest player in NBA history to reach the 5,000-point plateau (behind only LeBron James). With all the amazing statistics that Anthony put up in 2005-06, it is no wonder he was voted to the All-NBA Third Team at the conclusion of the season.
Without Carmelo Anthony's marvelous play, it is safe to say that the Nuggets would have fallen short of the postseason in the extremely deep Western Conference. The Nuggets finished the 2005-06 regular season with an overall record of 44-38, good enough for eighth in the conference. However, as the winner of the Northwest Division, the Nuggets earned the third seed and a match-up with the fifth seeded Los Angeles Clippers who closed out the season with a record of 47-35.
Much like the year before, the Nuggets' postseason hopes seemed to end almost as abruptly as they got started. The Clippers used their homecourt advantage to the fullest and jumped out on the Nuggets 2-0 in impressive fashion. With the series back in Denver, the Nuggets earned a victory in Game 3 before dropping Game 4 to the Clippers. Down 3-1 and back in L.A., the Nuggets were unable to steal a win on the road and fell to the Clippers in five games. The 2006 Playoffs marked the third-straight postseason in which the Nuggets managed just one win before falling in the opening round.
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2006-07: The Arrival of A.I.
Facing a 15-game stretch without leading scorer Carmelo Anthony, the Nuggets were at a crossroads just two months into the 2006-07 season. Instead of sitting back and hoping for the best, they pulled off one of the biggest trades in team history, acquiring All-Star guard Allen Iverson from the Philadelphia 76ers for point guard Andre Miller, forward Joe Smith and two first-round draft picks on Dec. 19, 2006.
The Answer's debut was pushed back by a winter blizzard, but once in uniform, he didn't disappoint. After helping the Nuggets weather the midseason storm caused by a brawl at Madison Square Garden, he joined forces with Anthony to form the highest-scoring tandem in the NBA. Anthony – suspended along with teammate J.R. Smith (10 games) and Nene (one game) for his role in the Dec. 16 brawl – finished second in the NBA with a 28.9 scoring average, while Iverson was eighth at 26.3.
More importantly, the new-look Nuggets overcame the suspensions and a season-ending knee injury to forward Kenyon Martin to finish sixth in the Western Conference and reach the playoffs for fourth straight year. While Anthony and Iverson dominated the headlines as All-Star teammates, they had a strong supporting cast that included shot-swatting center Marcus Camby, power forward Nene, and super subs Smith and Linas Kleiza.
By winning nine of their final 10 games, the Nuggets finished 45-37 and earned a first-round playoff matchup with the San Antonio Spurs in a rematch of 2005. The result was virtually identical as the Nuggets won Game 1 in San Antonio, only to lose the next four games to the eventual NBA champions. The defensive-minded Spurs dictated the pace throughout the series. After averaging 105.4 points during the regular season, the Nuggets averaged 88.2 against San Antonio.
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2007-08: Melo and Iverson Put Offense in Overdrive
The last time a Nuggets team averaged more than 110 points per game for an entire season was 1990-91, when coach Paul Westhead encouraged his players to start shooting during the national anthem. That team won 20 games. Seventeen years later, coach George Karl found a way to make the formula work.
With natural-born scorers Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson at his disposal, Karl helped the Nuggets do something they hadn't done since the days of Doug Moe: win 50 games. They did it by averaging 110.7 points – second only to the Golden State Warriors – and 18.7 fast-break points per game. Denver's ability to light up the scoreboard was on full display in a 168-116 win against Seattle at the Pepsi Center on March 16, 2008. The 168 points set a franchise record for a non-overtime game.
While Iverson and Anthony were the primary options on any given night, the Nuggets were hardly two-dimensional. Anthony, Iverson, J.R. Smith and Linas Kleiza each scored at least 40 points in a single game over the course of the year, marking only the third time in NBA history that four teammates reached 40-plus during the same season. Iverson poured in 51 points against the Los Angeles Lakers on Dec. 5; Kleiza scored a career-high 41 against Utah on Jan. 17; Anthony went for a career-high 49 against the Washington Wizards on Feb. 8; and Smith joined the club with 43 at Chicago on Feb. 22.
Not to be lost among the offensive fireworks was reigning NBA Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Camby. The veteran center averaged a league-leading 3.61 blocked shots and a career-high 13.1 rebounds and was named to the NBA's All-Defensive First Team for the second year in a row. Power forward Kenyon Martin also helped give the Nuggets a physical presence in the paint as he returned from his second microfracture knee surgery to average 12.4 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.2 blocked shots in 71 games.
In most seasons, a 50-32 record would have meant a decent playoff seed, but in the top-heavy Western Conference, it was good for the No. 8 spot and a date with the top-seeded Lakers. Swept by the Lakers during the regular season, the Nuggets fared no better in the playoffs, falling in four games. The Lakers flustered Anthony with constant double-teams and won the first three meetings by an average of 15.7 points. The Nuggets put up a fight in Game 4, falling 107-101, but they were eliminated from the first round for the fifth year in a row.
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