SALT LAKE CITY — This was supposed to be the year the Denver Nuggets became a legitimate contender.
The Nuggets, who finished the season as the No. 3 seed in the NBA’s Western Conference, feel like they have all the necessary pieces, but concerns that plagued them in the postseason last season — injury and depth — are still cropping up, and defensive problems have begun to mount with the playoffs right around the corner.
A 4-3 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers in the 2019 Western Conference semifinals, a series that included a wild quadruple-overtime contest, set the wheels in motion for the Nuggets to try to move into an even higher echelon in the West.