This season’s Denver Nuggets have been down for the count a few more times than Inigo Montoya…
Your Denver Nuggets have lost a few games to the Houston Rockets this season, the last three by 11 points in total. So while another close loss by a few points was a huge blow to those hopes, there are still a few games left. As inside-out as this year’s team has run to my expectations, I won’t count this talented crew out until the math says I have to. But speaking of a few…
I was always taught that a "few" was three. Apparently, that may have been a family tradition, as most people consider a few to be three or more. The literal definition would further disagree. The only true rule is that a few simply cannot be one. Apparently a literal few can be as few as two. Does your head hurt yet? I promise there’s a point here…
A few points, actually.
After another close loss last night – the third of its kind to Houston in the last ten games for your Denver Nuggets – it was hard to not lament how many games this season came down to a few scant points. Last night actually ended up a six point loss, so more than a few… but with so many narrow losses, let’s tighten up the filters a bit, and call a our definition for "few" four or less. Looking back at the contests that were close enough that the Nuggets dropped them by less than a nickel:
11 – Games this season in which the Nuggets lost a game by four points or less, including a trio of overtime losses in their first 16 games. Considering that total is a full seventh of the games they have played this season, the frequency of near-losses has been a chafing frustration for team and fan base alike.
30 – Well-placed points (or subtractions via stops) it would have taken to have captured those eleven games. Though those points would have had to have been perfectly timed, this high-scoring Nuggets team averages just shy of 28 points a quarter this season. One hot quarter’s worth of points sprinkled perfectly across this season could have possibly resulted in…
4 – As in between three and five. As in tied with Utah for the fourth seed if the Nuggets record were 11 games better this season. Ridiculously lofty? Of course. Nonsensical? Probably. Unattainable? Not if they could have made up those few points, on offense or defense. Let’s break that further down…
2.73 – This one’s just a little quick division. 30 divided by 11 is the nearly-three points-per-game that would have been needed. Less than a point a quarter. Zero-point-six-eight, to be exact. Just. A. Few.
When these Nuggets find themselves on whichever side of the playoff fence they too-narrowly land, here’s betting they spend a few moments reflecting on a few too few.
Please give me a few of your thoughts on the matter, Nuggets Nation. Phew.
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