SI:AM | The Nuggets Are Slumping at the Wrong Time

The Nuggets have now lost four games in a row as they embark on a difficult stretch.

Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. Last night’s men’s NCAA tournament First Four games were actually pretty good, huh?

In today’s SI:AM:

???? Women’s tournament spoilers

???? How Donovan Mitchell reinvigorated the Cavs

???? The best NFL free agents still available

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The Nuggets better turn things around

With fewer than four weeks remaining in the NBA regular season, the Western Conference’s best team is sputtering.

After losing to the Raptors last night in Toronto, 125–110, Denver has now dropped four games in a row—its longest losing streak of the season. And it’s not just that the Nuggets are losing, it’s also who they’re losing to. The first loss came against the Bulls, who are currently 11th in the East. The second was against the Spurs, who own the third-worst record in the whole NBA. The third was against the Nets, who are in sixth place in the East but just 7–10 since trading Kyrie Irving on Feb. 6. And the Raptors, who beat Denver last night, are clinging onto a spot in the play-in tournament at 33–36.

It’s not going to get any easier for the Nuggets, either. Last night was the first game in a five-game road trip for the team as the arena in Denver prepares to host first- and second-round action in the men’s NCAA tournament (followed by a three-game Avalanche homestand). They’ll face the lowly Pistons tomorrow, the surging Knicks on Saturday, the Nets on Sunday and the Wizards a week from tonight. The first two home games after the road trip are against two of the best teams in the NBA: the Bucks and 76ers.

“Right now we’re just in chill mode, and you can’t be in chill mode with 13 games to go in the season,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said after last night’s game. “We’ve got to try to find a way to get our swagger back.”

“Maybe we’ve gotten a little soft with success,” Malone added. “We’ve been on cruise control for so long, No. 1 in the West since like December 15. I just told our players we’ve gotten away from who we are.”

The good news for the Nuggets is that they’re not in serious danger of falling out of first place and losing home court advantage throughout the Western Conference playoffs. They’re still four games ahead of the Grizzlies, who have their own problems, and five ahead of the Kings. But the losing streak has made it less likely that Denver (46–23) will be able to overtake the Bucks (50–19) for the best record in the NBA and home court advantage in a potential NBA Finals matchup.

The other positive for Denver is that the West suddenly looks a lot less scary compared to a month ago. Kevin Durant’s ankle injury knocked the Suns down a few pegs. And Ja Morant’s absence due to personal reasons makes the Grizzlies a question mark. The Warriors can’t win away from home (they’re 7–26 on the road this season). The Mavericks have lost nine of their last 12. The Kings, winners of eight of their last 10, seem to be Denver’s biggest threat right now.

The Nuggets also aren’t dealing with any significant injuries, so fixing what’s gone wrong really just boils down to starting to play like they did over the first three quarters of the season. That’s easier said than done, and four weeks isn’t a ton of time to right the ship, but at least they have some time to work things out before the playoffs start.

The best of Sports Illustrated

• Clare Brennan has a list of five teams that could play spoiler in the women’s tournament.
• The Cavaliers are title contenders, thanks to the arrival of Donovan Mitchell, Chris Mannix writes.
• Albert Breer explains what Lamar Jackson’s tweet yesterday could mean for his contract negotiations.
• Raiders coach Josh McDaniels is bringing in plenty of his former Patriots players, but Matt Verderame warns that that strategy hasn’t worked out great for previous New England coordinators turned head coaches.
• Verderame also has a list of the top 10 NFL free agents still available.
• Conor Orr has a few potential explanations for why Aaron Rodgers’s decision is taking so long.
• FIFA has announced the format for the new expanded men’s World Cup.

The top five...

… things I saw yesterday:

5. This pair of saves by Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner.

4. Two even better saves by Coyotes goalie Connor Ingram in the final seconds of regulation to send the game to overtime.

3. The Raptors’ 49-point first quarter against the Nuggets.

2. Manny Machado’s 437-foot home run in the Dominican Republic’s win over Israel.

1. Erling Haaland’s five goals for Manchester City in Champions League play.

SIQ

Twenty-six years ago this week, who became the first American-born NHL player to score 500 goals?

• Pat LaFontaine
• Dave Christian
• Bobby Carpenter
• Joe Mullen

Yesterday’s SIQ: On March 14, 1978, the NFL announced it would be adding a seventh on-field official—the side judge—to monitor plays deep in the defensive backfield. The change was at least partially inspired by an infamous ’76 hit on Lynn Swann by which Raiders player?

• Jack Tatum
• George Atkinson
• Ted Hendricks
• Willie Brown

Answer: George Atkinson. You can see the hit at the 1:20 mark of this video.

In the first half of the 1976 season opener between the Steelers and Raiders, Atkinson ran up behind Swann and leveled him with a vicious clothesline, well away from the play. With no official in the vicinity, Atkinson’s dirty hit went unpenalized. Swann was concussed and missed two games.

The next day, Steelers coach Chuck Noll told reporters that Atkinson’s hit was an example of “a criminal element” in the NFL that should be wiped out, adding that Atkinson should be “kicked out of the league.” Atkinson sued Noll and the Steelers for slander, seeking $2 million in damages. The case went to trial (which was covered in Sports Illustrated by William Oscar Johnson), and Atkinson lost.

As a result of the lawsuit, a number of letters sent by and to commissioner Pete Rozelle were made public when they were submitted as evidence. (These were the days before everything got leaked through Adam Schefter.) In one, Rozelle wrote to Atkinson, “In sixteen years in this office I do not recall a more flagrant foul than your clubbing the back of Swann’s head totally away from the play.” (Rozelle fined Atkinson $1,500.) In another Rozelle wrote to Noll and Raiders coach John Madden that the Pittsburgh-Oakland rivalry “could be on the verge of erupting into something approaching pure violence.” Rozelle also wrote to Noll to chastise him for calling Atkinson out publicly and fined him $1,000. Steelers president Dan Rooney responded by writing to Rozelle alleging there had been “direct, premeditated, unemotional efforts by the Oakland Raiders to seriously injure Lynn Swann.”

The trial concluded before the start of the 1977 season. The following offseason, the NFL added a seventh member to officiating crews—the side judge—in a move that Mark Schultz of the officiating website Football Zebras wrote was a “partial response to the Swann play.” The addition of the side judge was part of a group of new rules adopted ahead of the ’78 season to boost offense, including a ban on contacting receivers more than five yards from the line of scrimmage. The rules were put in place after scoring fell to 34.4 points per game in ’77, the lowest since ’42. The move worked. In ’78, teams scored 36.6 points per game, and in ’79 scoring leaped to 40.2 points per game.