The Kroenke family has made it their business to produce Championship caliber teams, with the L.A. Rams who won Super Bowl XXXIV in 2022 with ex-Broncos linebacker Von Miller. They didn’t stop with the Lombardi, in fact they hit the gas and lunged forward with the Colorado Avalanche winning last seasons Stanley Cup.
While the Rams appear to be a shell of the Super Bowl contenders they were a year ago, the Colorado Avalanche have a chance to make it to back-to-back cup championships.
The one team seething for a championship under Kroenke Sports are the Denver Nuggets who just finished the regular season as the number one seed in the West, an accomplishment that has never before been accomplished by the Nuggets. This along with their two-time MVP Center Nikola Jokic, the Nuggets are primed to be one of the top contenders on the road their first championship.
The Nuggets lost three of their last four games to the Houston Rockets, the Phoenix Suns and the Utah Jazz before defeating the Sacramento Kings in their last game of the season on Sunday night. Because the Nuggets clinche their playoff berth and the top seed at the start of April, not much emphasis was put on playing their top squad in the remaining games for the season.
This provoked the ire of critics who blasted the Nuggets as being soft and or not ready for the post-season.
The Play-in Tournament begins this week with the Atlanta Hawks in Miami to face the Heat, the Timberwolves in L.A. to face the Lakers, the Chicago Bulls in Toronto to face the Raptures and the Oklahoma City Thunder in New Orleans to face the Pelicans.
Due to Denver’s first place finish the Nuggets won’t know their opponent until both the Play-in Tournament and the first round of the playoffs has been completed. In the first round which kicks off this Saturday, the Brooklyn Nets will head to Philly to face the 76ers, the New York Knicks are in Clevelan to face the Cavaliers, the Golden State Warrios are in Sacramento to face the Kings and the L.A. Clippers are in Phoenix to face the Suns.
In other sports the Colorado Avalanche are at home this week to host both the Edmonton Oilers and the Winnipeg Jets before heading to Nashville to face the Predators. The Avs are currently holding on to the first place lead alongside the Dallas Stars in the Central Division but remain one point behind the Edmonton Oilers and three points behind the Las Vegas Golden Knights in the Western Conference.
While it’s unlikely that the Avs are able to catch the Golden Knights they do have an opportunity to take the second seed in the West if they can defeat the Oilers and the Winnipeg Jets this week. The Oilers are currently riding a 7-game winning streak while the Jets are on a two-game streak.
The Colorado Rockies kicked off their home opener last Thursday against the Washington Nationals. Colorado split the series 2-2 with wins on opening day and Sunday afternoon. This week the Rockies are at home hosting the Cardinals who they defeated in game one of three-game series that began on Monday. Colorado is on the road this weekend to face the Seattle Mariners in a three-game series.
The Denver Broncos are just a couple of weeks from the 2023 NFL Draft. Last week we talked about the possibility of where Denver may be looking to improve their depth. The 2023 NFL Draft is set for Thursday, April 27th.
