Elite teams play their best basketball when it counts, and that is precisely what the Denver Nuggets are doing right now. Some, including myself, may not consider Denver an “elite” team without Murray and MPJ, but they certainly have been playing elite basketball this season. Their 39-26 record positions them one win under the “elite” Philadelphia 76ers with 40 wins. Without MPJ and Murray, the Nuggets have not had any stars to pair with Jokic, so their success relative to those teams flies under the radar.
I’m not trying to say the Nuggets are an elite basketball team right now, but I do think their success this season is as impressive as it gets in the NBA.