 The Denver Nuggets were actually the first of the ABA and NBA teams to go by the name the Rockets. This squad a run of good seasons that took them to the playoffs in the ABA every season from the beginning of the team (1967) to after the ABA merged with the NBA and the Rockets became known as the Nuggets. Whatever the name, the Denver basketball franchise had a host of stars pass briefly through the roster before David Thompson, Marvin Webster, Dan Issel, and Bobby Jones made the Nuggets one of the most talented team in the ABA. The team that went to the ABA Finals and lost in the league's final season continued to impress after moving over to the more established NBA. The Denver Nuggets, with Larry Brown as the head coach, went to the conference finals in just their second season. The 1970s would end and the strong play of the Nuggets would die out. After Larry Brown left in 1979, the team played poorly for the franchise's first time. Doug Moe would come along in 1981 and quickly turn things around. The opposite of Brown, Moe emphasized overwhelming offense instead of solid defense. Alex English and Kiki Vandeweghe led the team to the top of the scoring ranks in the early 1980s and brought the team success beyond the regular season schedule. The team never went to the NBA Finals, but they consistently threatened. In 1985 the Denver Nuggets went to the Conference Finals, their deepest trip while in the NBA. The wheels would soon fall off the bus, and the strategy could not survive the trade of Vandeweghe for more defensive oriented players like Fat Lever. The team played well, but was not nearly as successful or fun to watch. The Denver Nuggets returned to competition behind the long arms of Dikembe Mutombo and a new defensive oriented team. That team became the first number eight seed in the NBA to defeat the number one conference seed. That promise would soon fade away as free agency took the key players from the team. The Denver Nuggets came alive in the 21st century with Carmelo Anthony (drafted in 2003) and the addition of Allen Iverson (acquired via trade in 2006). The Nuggets have brought back the high scoring game of the 1980s to the Pepsi Center.
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