The Denver Nuggets won their first NBA Championship in franchise history in 2023, dominating the Miami Heat in a 4-1 series win behind an all-time playoff run from superstar center and two-time league MVP Nikola Jokić. As the calendar turns to 2024, the Nuggets seem like an excellent bet to double down on their dominance. Their 26-12 record sits as the third-best in the entire league, and there’s no trace of a championship hangover for them to deal with.
Here’s a look at how the Nuggets have fared this season, with matchups and storylines to watch as they try to earn a championship repeat.
Previewing the Odds
Right now, the Nuggets sit with the second best odds of winning it all in 2024, listed at or around +425 at a handful of sportsbooks. If you’re going to bet on the Nuggets or any other team, shop around first to make sure you have the best possible odds of winning big, whether because a sportsbook offers bigger payouts or better deposit match bonus offers for new and returning bettors.
Denver trails the 25-10 Minnesota Timberwolves for the No. 1 seed and the best record in the Western Conference. While the Nuggets have one more win than the Timberwolves do, Minnesota has three games in hand, giving them a boost in the standings. Funnily enough, Minnesota’s championship odds are far worse, at +1800: that’s partially because they don’t have a proven track record of playoff success like the Nuggets do.
The Joker Does It Again
The Timberwolves also don’t have one of the best players in the world at their disposal, as Jokić is one of the favorites to win his third career MVP trophy—tied with Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers at +250. That honor would solidify ‘the Joker’ as one of the best players in the history of the NBA, putting him among the likes of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Russell, Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Wilt Chamberlain, Moses Malone, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson as one of the only players to win three or more MVP awards.
Jokić is close to averaging a triple-double with 25.5 points per game, 11.8 rebounds and 9.2 assists. Perhaps even more impressive, he does so without being a ball hog. In yesterday’s 131-114 blowout win over the Detroit Pistons, Jokić played just 25 minutes with four points, instead passing the ball to his teammates repeatedly for a whopping 16 assists, wanting to share the love with players who don’t get as many opportunities to score.
Embiid, for his part, leads the league with 34.6 points per game, tying Jokić with an average of 11.8 rebounds. The Cameroonian superstar is dealing with a knee injury right now that could limit his effectiveness, but if both he and Jokić can stay healthy down the stretch, we might have an all-time MVP race on our hands.
The Best of the Rest
As I alluded to previously, the story surrounding Jokić is rarely about himself. While he’s a funny, candid interviewee, he doesn’t relish the spotlight. After becoming the NBA Finals MVP last season, he almost skipped the championship parade because he wanted to return home to his farm in Serbia.
Jokić is one of the best passers in the league, a rarity for a big man. With 4,301 assists to his name at just 28 years old, he’s already breathing down the neck of Abdul-Jabbar (5,660) for the most ever by a center, and he’s doing so in less than half the number of games played.
His passing proficiency creates a matchup nightmare for opposing teams: if they want to double team him to limit his effectiveness, he can simply kick it back outside to an open Jamal Murray or Michael Porter Jr.
Even with that versatility in mind, the Nuggets still haven’t been at their best this season. Both Murray and Aaron Gordon have missed significant chunks of time due to injury, and they’ve been limited in some of the games they did manage to take part in too. With the added grind of deep playoff runs, we’ve seen the wear and tear of playing hundreds of games in the span of a year or two come back to bite teams in the past.
The Nuggets have done an excellent job of winning in spite of their lengthy injury reports to this point in the season. They’re already a team that nobody wants to face, but they can become even more terrifying if taking things easy now gets them healthy for the stretch run.
