The Denver Nuggets are undeniably a legitimate NBA title contender in the 2023-24 NBA season. After all, Nikola Jokic and company are the defending NBA champs. And they’re continuing to prove that their title run last season was no fluke, as they are consistently dominating the competition in the current campaign.
Recently, Nuggets shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was asked by Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report which teams in the Western Conference could be the biggest thorns in the side of the reigning NBA kings.
The former Georgia Bulldogs star did not identify the Los Angeles Lakers as a threat, instead naming the Phoenix Suns and the Minnesota Timberwolves as the teams he’s wary of. He even mentioned the young Oklahoma City Thunder as well.
“I would say a healthy Phoenix [and] a healthy Minnesota ’cause Minnesota’s always been tough, even last year,” Caldwell-Pope said (h/t Sportskeeda).
“And there’s a lot of young teams, like OKC is on the rise, too, man.”
The Denver Nuggets Are Looking Good So Far In The 2023-24 NBA Season
With Jokic as the engine of the team, the Nuggets have won 45 of their first 65 games of the season. They are also heating up of late, having won nine of their last 10 games.
They are tied with the Thunder atop the Western Conference standings and will be having a rematch against the Miami Heat, whom Denver beat in five games in the 2023 NBA Finals, this Wednesday in South Beach.
There is a fair chance that the Nuggets and the Lakers meet again in the playoffs, with Los Angeles hovering inside the Play-in Tournament picture with a 36-30 record. In the last playoffs, the Nuggets swept the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals, with Murray and Jokic each having a brilliant series to thwart the Purple & Gold.
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