Denver Nuggets won the NBA title just two short seasons ago.
They won 50 games this season for the third straight time and have three times the NBA MVP Nikola Jokic on the guard list. Sidekick Jamal Murray also remains potent.
It sounds like a team that is expected to be really dangerous during the season.
But chewing on this fourth seeded nuggets is likely to be sent home in the Western Conference first round of the fifth seeded Los Angeles Clippers.
Being in disarray when the playoffs start is not good.
And it makes it harder to win after the franchise has shown that it was dysfunctional.
Star head coach Michael Malone was dismissed with three matches left in the regular season after the squad lost four straight competitions.
Obviously, the relationship between Malone and General Manager Calvin Booth was so testified that it affected other areas of surgery. Booth was also fired.
Nugget’s Deputy President Josh Kroenke said earlier this week that he first felt that shooting Malone in November, which sounds crazy.
But doing it in April is even covers – and maybe Kroenke should be sent in for a brain scan.
Assistant coach David Adelman is now commissioned to get Nuggets on the right track.
He has good blood lines – his father, Rick, won 1,042 NBA games and is in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. His uncle, Clete, was a very successful Junior College trainer in Southern California in more than a quarter of a century.
But throwing a head coaching beginner in the post -season fire is quite the game.
The 43-year-old Adelman will have a baptism by meeting the Clippers. And he will coach for his job.
Simply put, if Denver wins this series, Adelman should have the opportunity to become the new coach. If the nuggets fall, you expect a coaching search.
Jokic will really have to wear nuggets to prevent the club from seeing its seventh straight playoffs Berth End quickly.
Los Angeles is hotter than Lava entering this series, and Kawhi Leonard again looks like a star.
Clippers won their last eight matches in the regular season and 15 of their last 17.
The two backslaps were against the two conference leaders – Oklahoma City Thunder in the west and Cleveland Cavaliers in the east.
The hot finish kept the Clippers out of the Play-in round, and they are now one of the teams you don’t want to encounter during the season.
Bad break for Denver – Clippers come to town, and they are not the team you hit with 22 points in December and 23 in January.
Los Angeles now has Better Club and does not have to do with distractions.
Leonard, a twice NBA Final MVP, has received 20 or more points in each of its last 15 performances. He had 33 points, seven assists, six returns and three steals when the Clippers beat the Golden State Warriors overtime in the season finale to get the playoffs.
His awkward right knee collaborates and he runs the floor and moves better than he has done in several years. His shot is on the brand – he made 60% or better in seven of these 15 matches.
“Playoff Kawhi” used to be one thing, and his latest performances have proven that the 33-year-old is in a good place that comes into the season.
James Harden has proven to be a good fit with Leonard and has really satisfied himself with the Clippers. Norman Powell had a career season and also comes well with Leonard.
Not to forget Big Man Ivica Zubac, who will go up to Jokic. Zubac has had a career season with 59 double doubles and averages of 16.8 points and 12.6 returns. How he can manage in this series can decide it.
There is no concern about the Clippers coach Tyronn Lue. He is safe in his job (we think). But he really has the better situation right now.
And he will still coach next week when Denver starts the low season.
