Prior to the start of the season the Denver Nuggets would have another front office shake up naming Kiki Vandeweghe. Kiki would begin by rebuilding the Denver Nuggets all over again trading Antonio McDyess to the New York Knicks for Marcus Camby and Nené Hilario. After a long and somewhat embarrassing search the Denver Nuggets would enter the season with a new coach in Jeff Bzdelik. However, with Juwan Howard, and Brazilian rookie Nené as the lone Denver Nuggets to average more then 10 ppg the Denver Nuggets suffered through another terrible season posting a 17-65 record, which was tied with the Cleveland Cavaliers with the worst record in the NBA. Following the season the Denver Nuggets would continue to retool by letting Juwan Howard leave via free agency, while signing free agent guard Andre Miller from the Los Angels Clippers. However, it was through the draft that the Denver Nuggets got who they believe will be the player of the future as they selected Forward Carmello Anthony who as a freshman has just led Syracuse to National Championship.
Coming off a wretched 17-65 season the only place for the Denver Nuggets to go was up, one player who was key to their success was Rookie Carmello Anthony who showed veteran poise right away as the Denver Nuggets got off to a solid start posting a 10-6 record through November which included a win over the Cleveland Cavaliers as Anthony battled fellow super rookie LeBron James. The Denver Nuggets continued to play well in December as they surpassed their previous season's win total and found themselves in the thick of the playoff picture. The Denver Nuggets would continue to be in the playoff race all season despite posting losing records in February and March as Anthony hit the rookie wall. However by finishing the season with 5 wins in their last 7 games the Denver Nuggets were able to grab the lost playoff spot in the West with a 43-39 record. Despite 21 points and 6 rebounds per game Carmello Anthony would finish second to LeBron James in Rookie of the Year voting. However Anthony got the Denver Nuggets into the postseason, where they faced the Minnesota Timberwolves. Despite strong games from Carmello the Denver Nuggets dropped the first 2 games on the road. Hosting their first playoff game in 9 years the Denver Nuggets bounced back to win Game 3 101-86. With a chance to even the series in Game 4.the Denver Nuggets had a potential game tying by Voshon Lenard miss at the buzzer in a heartbreaking 84-82 loss, as they went on to fall to the Wolves in 5 games.
Coming off their first playoff appearance in 9 years the Denver Nuggets got off to a shaky start as Carmello Anthony struggled early. Sitting at 13-15 on December 27th the Denver Nuggets would fire Coach Jeff Bzdelik. Under interim Coach Michael Cooper they would not fair much better as they won just 4 of their next 14, before the Denver Nuggets decided to hire George Karl a Coach with a proven track record that included a Western Conference Championship with the Seattle Supersonics in 1996. The hiring of Karl had an immediate effect as the Denver Nuggets picked up their play right away winning 5 of their next 6. The Denver Nuggets would continue their strong play down the stretch winning 25 of their last 29 games to make the playoffs with a 49-33 record. In the playoffs the Denver Nuggets became a team nobody wanted to face and they showed why right away beating the San Antonio Spurs on the road 93-87 in Game 1. However the Spurs would rebound to take the next 4 to win the series on the way to a NBA
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