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Utah Jazz: 2017-18 Northwest Division Comparison – December

SALT LAKE CITY, UT - DECEMBER 1: Donovan Mitchell #45 of the Utah Jazz talks with media after the game against the New Orleans Pelicans on December 1, 2017 at vivint.SmartHome Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Melissa Majchrzak/NBAE via Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY, UT - DECEMBER 1: Donovan Mitchell #45 of the Utah Jazz talks with media after the game against the New Orleans Pelicans on December 1, 2017 at vivint.SmartHome Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Melissa Majchrzak/NBAE via Getty Images)
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DENVER, CO – NOVEMBER 30: Gary Harris #14 of the Denver Nuggets dribbles down court against the Chicago Bulls at Pepsi Center on November 30, 2017 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Jamie Schwaberow/Getty Images)
DENVER, CO – NOVEMBER 30: Gary Harris #14 of the Denver Nuggets dribbles down court against the Chicago Bulls at Pepsi Center on November 30, 2017 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Jamie Schwaberow/Getty Images)

Denver Nuggets

Current Record: 13-9

Standings: 1st in Division, 4th in Conference

Although it’s by the narrowest of margins, the Denver Nuggets just so happen to find themselves atop the Northwest Division for the time being. This is particularly surprising considering that they lost Paul Millsap to a wrist injury and that Nikola Jokic recently went down to an ankle injury as well.

Quite frankly, though, those are two major injuries that I don’t know that Denver can truly bounce back from. Although they’re staying well afloat right now, their last four wins were over the Los Angeles Lakers, over the Chicago Bulls in lucky fashion, over the reeling Memphis Grizzlies and over the hapless Sacramento Kings. None of those opponents are formidable in the least and in between those contests, Denver was blown out by the Utah Jazz, Houston Rockets, and the Lakers in an earlier bout.

Therefore, Denver’s 13-9 record may be more than a little misleading considering that they’ve had a pretty easy schedule of late and I don’t know that their success is sustainable with their two best players out of action. I was quick to doubt the Nuggets after their early season woes that saw them start out the month of October 3-4 and even though they’re currently atop the division, I still think they’ll have more issues than they have thus far.

They have some promising guys and plenty of depth in the frontcourt while Jokic and Millsap are ailing (maybe we shouldn’t have made fun of them for signing so many power forwards), but I don’t think it’s going to be enough to keep the Nuggets on top of the Northwest by the end of the month, especially considering how narrow their lead already is.

They start out the month of December on a six-game road trip and things don’t get much easier from there. December is a tough month for most of the Northwest Division and so as difficult to discern as things are right now, they could become much clearer by the next edition of this series.

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