 The Denver Nuggets began to play back in 1967 as the Denver Rockets as part of the ABA. Then they enjoyed the play of guys like Ralph Simpson, Byron Beck, Spencer Haywood, David Thompson, Marvin Webster, Dan Issel, and Bobby Jones. Those ABA teams won three division titles and an ABA conference titles. The team made the jump to the NBA once the leagues merged. They recovered from the initial power drain to build a roster around Alex English and Kiki Vandeweghe. Vandeweghe was used to acquire Fat Lever, Calvin Natt, and Wayne Cooper. The 1980s ended with nine playoff appearances and a conference finals appearance. Those Doug Moe teams scored in the triple digits but ultimately fell flat, ultimately when they entered a postseason when playing defense mattered. The 1990s found the Nuggets building a team around Dikembe Mutombo and a defensive identity. Famously, the Nuggets entered the 1994 NBA postseason as the number eight seed and beat the Seattle Sonics in the first round. This was the first time in league history a number one seed fell to a number eight seed. Years later, the coach of that Sonics team, George Karl, would take the bench for the Nuggets. He coached a team with a burgeoning star in Carmelo Anthony. Anthony entered the NBA in 2003 overshadowed by LeBron James. He quickly made it clear that he could score at any level. Anthony was soon paired with Allen Iverson from 2006 to 2008. That last season together the Nuggets reached the conference finals, but lost to the Lakers in six. The 2010-2011 season proved to be difficult, as the front office took much of the season to trade Carmelo Anthony. Yet, the new roster additions bucked all the odds and reached the NBA playoffs. OnlineSeats has the Denver Nuggets tickets to see if the new roster is enough to bring the playoffs back to the Pepsi Center in the 2012 season.
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