Denver Nuggets Information

George Karl’s Denver Nuggets have the Pepsi Center popping with their ferocious style of basketball. Carmelo Anthony is realizing his potential as he leads his team into the Western Conference Semi-Finals of the 2009 NBA Playoffs. The former Syracuse Orangemen has along with Kenyon Martin, Nene and Chauncey Billups, the team has its sights set on an extended trip into the NBA Playoffs. Buy Nuggets tickets and see what he’s preparing for encore.

The Denver Nuggets got their start as an ABA franchise in 1967. Known as the Denver Rockets because of their ownership, the Rockets became the first pro basketball team to sign a player away from college when they inked Spencer Heywood from the University of Detroit. Heywood won ABA Rookie of the Year and proved to be a force in the new league, leading the Rockets to the Division Finals. The love affair between Heywood and the Rockets ended the next season though when Heywood jumped ship and signed with the Seattle Supersonics.

The Rockets changed their name to the Denver Nuggets in 1974 in preparation for a jump to the NBA. When they finally made the leap in 1976, the Nuggets captured the Western Division with a record of 50-32 but suffered a disappointing loss to the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round. In the 1977-78 season, Denver locked in their second straight division title with a 48-34 record in the regular season. The playoffs brought a tough contest with the Milwaukee Bucks that ended with Denver victorious after seven games. But in the Western Conference Finals, the Seattle Supersonics proved to be too much and the Nuggets fell in six games.

It would be 1985 before the Nuggets got that far again. After winning 52 games under head coach Doug Moe, the Nuggets claimed another Western Division title and headed for the playoffs with a first round match against the San Antonio Spurs. Winning that series took five games and the Nuggets moved on to eliminate the Utah Jazz in the second round. Unfortunately for Denver, their next opponent, the Los Angeles Lakers, knocked them out of the Conference Finals after a five game series.

The Nuggets most recent playoff berth came in 2008 after finishing with 50 wins where they were swept by the LA Lakers.  After dealing Devin Harris in exchange for Jason Kidd, the Nuggets are looking at getting to the finals sooner rather than later.