On Thursday night, April 4th 2013, all Nuggets fans held their breath as Danilo Gallinari grabbed his left knee and fell to the floor in excruciating pain. From the moment the first replay was viewed it was apparent he tore his ACL. All the excitement and joy that had been building for a team with so much promise suddenly left the Pepsi Center silent and the fans watching on TV holding their breath. It was as quiet as it has ever been this season at the big Pepsi can.
What now?
Is the hope of reaching the NBA Finals for the first time in Nuggets Franchise history over?
Chances at winning an NBA title gone?
The Nuggets are already without leading scorer and best player, Ty Lawson, with a plantar fascia tear in his right heel. Now they are without their second leading scorer.
Can the Nuggets reach the NBA Finals without a healthy Ty Lawson? No. He is the engine that makes it all work.
Can the Nuggets reach the NBA Finals without Danilo Gallinari? Yes.
Wilson Chandler would be a starting small forward for over half the teams in the NBA, but when you have a talent rich squad like the Denver Nuggets, you can be a "starter" coming off the bench. The Denver Nuggets are the deepest team in the NBA, so they should be able to fill the void of Gallinari seamlessly.
I am not saying the Nuggets are better without Gallinari, that would be ridiculous, but they are still a very good team that has the ability to make up for an important injured starter perhaps better than any other team in the NBA. Just look at Saturday night's game against the Houston Rockets, a potential playoff opponent, Blue and Yellow put up 132 points. That's right, without their top two scorers, the Nuggets pounded the Rockets with their highest point total of the season.
The Nuggets will fill the void of Danilo Gallinari with placing Wilson Chandler in the starting rotation and bringing Corey Brewer off the bench to give Chandler a breather. With the recent emergence of Evan Fournier, it is possible "Frenchy" will play at the 2 spot to give Igoudala a rest in the playoffs, assuming Lawson is back in the starting rotation. The real question is who will come in to play the power forward position? That was usually the position Wilson Chandler would come in for, to replace Kenneth Faried, not Gallinari (that was Brewer). My best guess is Anthony Randolph. I believe George Karl trusts Anthony Randolph more than Mozgov, and certainly more than Jordan Hamilton coming in at the 3 and moving Wilson to the 4.
But I may be over analyzing the rotation.
We all know the bench gets shorter in the playoffs, and the Nuggets may keep it only 8-9 deep and expect more minutes out of Faried. Prior to Gallo's injury the Nuggets would easily go 9 deep in a playoff series, something most teams wouldn't do. Depending on how Fournier finishes the season or how much size George Karl will want off the bench, it is possible the Nuggets are still a 9 deep rotation in the playoffs.
If the Nuggets are able to hold off the Los Angeles Clippers and Memphis Grizzlies for the 3 seed in the West, they will face either the Golden State Warriors or Houston Rockets in the first round. Neither team matches up well with Denver and they know it. The games would be fast pace, high scoring, and nobody does that better than the Denver Nuggets. The Memphis Grizzlies pose the biggest challenge for a first round opponent due to their top notch defense. Nobody does defense better than Memphis, they are ranked #1 in the league in points allowed per game (89.7) and let's face it, Denver is not a team that likes to play the slow pace, under 90 points, beat-em-up style games. That is why these last 5 games are so important to hold onto that 3 seed.
The Nuggets are two wins shy of 55, that would set an all-time franchise record for wins in the regular season. They also have tied their franchise record for consecutive wins at home, 20.
This team is special.
The opportunity to do something no Nuggets team has done before is still there for the taking.
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