2004–05 Denver Nuggets season

2004–05 Denver Nuggets season
Head coach Jeff Bzdelik
Michael Cooper
George Karl
Owner(s) Stan Kroenke
Arena Pepsi Center
Results
Record 4933 (.598)
Place Division: 2nd (Northwest)
Conference: 7th (Western)
Playoff finish West First Round
(eliminated 1-4)

The 2004-05 Denver Nuggets season was the team's 39th in the NBA. They began the season hoping to improve upon their 43-39 output from the previous season. They bested it by six games, finishing 49-33, and qualified for the playoffs for the second straight season.[1] They were the fifth team in the Western Conference to ever qualify for the playoffs after starting the season 17–25, as they turned around the season by finishing 32–8.[2] The season was marked by coaching changes: Jeff Bzdelik was fired in December, replacing him with former Laker Michael Cooper and after the team 4-14 under Cooper, George Karl was named head coach for the rest of the season. Karl would later guide the Nuggets to the Western Conference Finals in 2009. The team drafted point guard Jameer Nelson with the 20th in the 2004 NBA Draft, but his rights were traded to the Orlando Magic, though the Boston Celtics would trade Nelson back to the team that originally drafted him during the 2014-15 season. Nelson would later take the Magic to NBA Finals in 2009.

Entering the playoffs as the seventh seed, the Nuggets, for the second straight year, failed to make it out of the first round as they were unable to stop the San Antonio Spurs in five games. The Spurs were NBA Champions that season, their third in franchise history.

Draft Picks

Main article: 2004 NBA Draft
Round Pick Player Position Nationality School/Club Team
1 20 Jameer Nelson PG  United States St. Joseph's

Roster

2004–05 Denver Nuggets roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB (YYYY–MM–DD) From
SG 15 United States Anthony, Carmelo 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Syracuse
PG 11 United States Boykins, Earl 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m) 133 lb (60 kg) Eastern Michigan
SG 7 United States Buckner, Greg 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Clemson
PF 23 United States Camby, Marcus 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Massachusetts
C 56 Netherlands Elson, Francisco 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 235 lb (107 kg) California
PG 12 Dominican Republic Flores, Luis 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Manhattan
SF 3 United States Johnson, DerMarr 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Cincinnati
SG 1 United States Lenard, Voshon 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Minnesota
SF 6 United States Martin, Kenyon 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Cincinnati
PG 24 United States Miller, Andre 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Utah
PF 21 Mexico Nájera, Eduardo 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Oklahoma
C 31 Brazil Nenê 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 260 lb (118 kg) Brazil
G/F 10 United States Person, Wesley 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Auburn
F 41 United States Pope, Mark 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Kentucky
G/F 9 United States Russell, Bryon 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Long Beach State
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

Northwest Division W L PCT GB
Seattle SuperSonics 52 30 .634 --
Denver Nuggets 49 33 .598 3
Minnesota Timberwolves 44 38 .537 8
Portland Trail Blazers 27 55 .329 25
Utah Jazz 26 56 .317 26
# Western Conference
Team W L PCT GB
1 c-Minnesota Timberwolves 58 24 .707
2 y-Los Angeles Lakers 56 26 .683 2
3 x-San Antonio Spurs 57 25 .695 1
4 x-Sacramento Kings 55 27 .671 3
5 x-Dallas Mavericks 52 30 .634 6
6 x-Memphis Grizzlies 50 32 .610 8
7 x-Houston Rockets 45 37 .549 13
8 x-Denver Nuggets 43 39 .524 15
9 Utah Jazz 42 40 .512 16
10 Portland Trail Blazers 41 41 .500 17
11 Seattle SuperSonics 37 45 .451 21
12 Golden State Warriors 37 45 .451 21
13 Phoenix Suns 29 53 .354 29
14 Los Angeles Clippers 28 54 .341 30

Playoffs

West First Round

(2) San Antonio Spurs vs. (7) Denver Nuggets

April 24
7:00 pm
Denver Nuggets 98, San Antonio Spurs 87
Scoring by quarter: 23–27, 29–25, 21–23, 20–12
Pts: Andre Miller 31
Rebs: Marcus Camby 12
Asts: Andre Miller 5
Pts: Manu Ginóbili 23
Rebs: Nazr Mohammed 15
Asts: Tony Parker 6
SBC Center, San Antonio, Texas
Attendance: 18,797
Referees: Bill Spooner, David Jones, Eddie F. Rush
April 27
7:00 pm
Denver Nuggets 76, San Antonio Spurs 104
Scoring by quarter: 18–29, 14–34, 30–23, 14–18
Pts: DeMarr Johnson 12
Rebs: Marcus Camby 12
Asts: Andre Miller 7
Pts: Tim Duncan 24
Rebs: Duncan, Horry 9 each
Asts: Tony Parker 6
SBC Center, San Antonio, Texas
Attendance: 18,797
Referees: Greg Willard, Mark Wunderlich, Steve Javie
April 30
8:30 pm
San Antonio Spurs 86, Denver Nuggets 78
Scoring by quarter: 24–20, 26–21, 11–17, 25–20
Pts: Manu Ginóbili 32
Rebs: Tim Duncan 11
Asts: Brent Barry 4
Pts: Carmelo Anthony 19
Rebs: Marcus Camby 14
Asts: Andre Miller 7
Pepsi Center, Denver, Colorado
Attendance: 19,913
Referees: Dan Crawford, Leon Wood, Scott Foster
May 2
8:30 pm
San Antonio Spurs 126, Denver Nuggets 115 (OT)
Scoring by quarter: 28–29, 29–24, 30–29, 29–27, Overtime: 19–8
Pts: Tim Duncan 39
Rebs: Tim Duncan 8
Asts: Tony Parker 7
Pts: Earl Boykins 32
Rebs: Marcus Camby 14
Asts: Anthony, Boykins 5 each
Pepsi Center, Denver, Colorado
Attendance: 19,776
Referees: Bennie Adams, Derrick Stafford, Dick Bavetta
May 4
8:30 pm
Denver Nuggets 89, San Antonio Spurs 99
Scoring by quarter: 21–25, 22–20, 24–26, 22–28
Pts: Carmelo Anthony 25
Rebs: Marcus Camby 10
Asts: Andre Miller 6
Pts: Tony Parker 21
Rebs: Nazr Mohammed 13
Asts: Tony Parker 7
San Antonio wins the series, 4–1
SBC Center, San Antonio, Texas
Attendance: 18,797
Referees: Jim Clark, Luis Grillo, Mike Callahan

Last Playoffs meeting: 1995 Western Conference First Round (San Antonio won 3–0)

Player statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game

Awards and records

References

  1. 2004-05 Denver Nuggets
  2. Schuhmann, John (January 24, 2013). "L.A. Recovery Wouldn’t Be Unprecedented". NBA.com. Retrieved January 24, 2013.
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