Bennett Durando is the Denver Nuggets beat writer for The Denver Post. Before moving to Colorado, where he started as The Post's Avalanche beat writer, he covered SEC football, basketball and other sports for five years: first reporting on his alma mater, Missouri, for the St.
The Denver Nuggets and the Dallas Mavericks face off during the first quarter of an NBA Cup game at Ball Arena in Denver on Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. You probably forgot that it existed as soon as it ended last year, and you will be reminded of it when you turn on the television Friday night and see the Nuggets playing on a jet-black court.
Denver got stuck with a brutal draw this year, beginning with Friday’s game at Portland. In the first two installments of this event, the. But only eight teams do. As always, the 30 NBA teams were split into six groups of five. The first-place team in each group will advance, plus two “wild card” second-place teams .between Halloween and the end of November. Head-to-head results are the first tiebreaker. Point differential is second, in case you get confused by teams attempting half-court buzzer beaters with a 20-point lead. As silly as the entire concept is, it’s still a fun time, in this humble writer’s opinion. And the opportunity to predict the bracket is a good excuse to look around the league at how various teams have started the season. So here goes nothing.In a combination of maximum chalk and maximum chaos, the OKC machine churns on to another knockout stage — and is joined there by Utah. That’s right, the Jazz will be the Western Conference wild card after taking advantage of weaker competition while the group of death cannibalizes itself. Despite being a consensus pick to finish dead last in the real-life standings, Utah has some compelling parts: three 7-footers in the starting lineup all with different and complementary skill sets , an exciting draft class on the bench and a highly regarded coach bringing it all together . No, the Jazz probably won’t be playing meaningful basketball in March. But the in-season tournament is made for teams like this.Vibes in Dallas reach an all-time low, and “Fire Nico” chants reach a crescendo as the listless Pelicans eliminate the Mavs at American Airlines Center. Meanwhile, Luka Doncic and the recently possessed Austin Reaves lead the Lakers back to the quarterfinals via point differential, which breaks a three-way tie with the Clips and Grizz. As of this Thursday, before group play began, four of the bottom-six teams in the NBA in assist-to-turnover ratio resided in this group. The Clippers are too good to be 29th in this category. Eventually, they’ll emerge as the best and certainly deepest team of these five, but Ty Lue needs time to put the pieces together.The prevailing takeaway from the first week of this season: Run for your life, MVP contenders. Nikola Jokic’s claim to the “best in the world” title might be limited. Victor Wembanyama is here. The Spurs, in spite of all their roster-building patience, might be ahead of schedule. At least as a regular-season team. The defense looks impenetrable. The early returns on No. 2 draft pick Dylan Harper are promising. And Wemby is competitive enough to trick himself into thinking this trophy means something. Denver’s group stage curse continues with a head-to-head tiebreak loss to San Antonio in this absolute gauntlet. Even the weakest team here has top-10 defense potential.This is basically Cleveland and a bunch of teams that started poorly. The Cavs have to be penciled in as the East wild card, at minimum. But how do you convince yourself not to be completely boring? By keeping the faith in Atlanta, a fun team on paper that has looked like way less than the sum of its parts so far. Trae Young injured his knee earlier this week, adding to the concern. But let’s go lemons to lemonade and project a breakout month for Jalen Johnson working with the ball in his hands more. The Raptors are intriguing here as well, but their defense has betrayed them too much to be trusted.Meet the best backcourt in the East. Philly’s guards are playing so well that it might not even matter if Joel Embiid and Paul George are injured or underperforming, at least in small doses. Tyrese Maxey’s bona fides are established by now, VJ Edgecombe is a legit challenger to Cooper Flagg for Rookie of the Year, Quentin Grimes is playing for a big contract next summer, and Jared McCain is another tantalizing prospect if he can stay healthy. This team has serious talent. The fast start isn’t fake. Nor was Brooklyn’s winless week. What is fake: Desmond Bane’s 3-point shooting mega-slump in Orlando. Trust that he’ll settle in with his new team soon.This is shaping up to be a surprisingly potent group. Miami and Charlotte got off to hyper-efficient starts offensively, and they were still overshadowed by the 4-0 Chicago Bulls rattling off wins without Coby White. At the end of the day, though, how can you bet against the defending NBA Cup champs? Giannis Antetokounmpo averaged 36.3 points and 14 rebounds on 70% shooting in his first four games, then the Bucks beat any allegations of over-dependency by knocking off Golden State without him on Thursday. Myles Turner’s shot hasn’t been falling, but he’s provided an early defensive boost — the kind that Karl-Anthony Towns doesn’t add in New York. Milwaukee wins this group in a head-to-head tiebreaker over the Knicks, while LaMelo Ball air-balls potential game-winners from 35 feet deep in two different Hornets games.Nikola Jokic extends triple-double streak, Nuggets ride big third quarter to easy win over Pelicans🔊 Nuggets Podcast: Jamal Murray goes off, Christian Braun gets paid and Aaron Gordon goes hyphyThe first-ever NBA Cup was claimed by LeBron. The second was hoisted by Giannis. The third will belong to Wemby.Aurora brewery to close taproom after 20 years, with plans to open a new spaceRenck: Thank you, DeMeco Ryans for going to Houston. Broncos would not be contender again without Sean PaytonColorado's proposed settlement with company that failed to clean up defunct uranium mill draws criticismICE's arrest of father, children in Durango sparks CBI investigation, local backlashMy father died 70 years ago when a bomb exploded minutes after his plane took off from Stapleton, but what I recall most was Coloradans’ response My father died 70 years ago when a bomb exploded minutes after his plane took off from Stapleton, but what I recall most was Coloradans' response
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