Owner(s) Stan Kroenke Record 49–33 (.598) | Arena Pepsi Center | |
Head coach Jeff Bzdelik
Michael Cooper
George Karl Place Division: 2nd (Northwest)
Conference: 7th (Western) Playoff finish First Round
(Eliminated 1-4) | ||
The 2004-05 Denver Nuggets season was the team's 39th in the NBA. They began the season hoping to improve upon their 43-39 output from the previous season. They bested it by six games, finishing 49-33, and qualified for the playoffs for the second straight season. They were the fifth team in the Western Conference to ever qualify for the playoffs after starting the season 17–25, as they turned around the season by finishing 32–8. The season was marked by coaching changes: Jeff Bzdelik was fired in December, replacing him with former Laker Michael Cooper and after the team 4-14 under Cooper, George Karl was named head coach for the rest of the season. Karl would later guide the Nuggets to the Western Conference Finals in 2009. The team drafted point guard Jameer Nelson with the 20th in the 2004 NBA Draft, but his rights were traded to the Orlando Magic, though the Boston Celtics would trade Nelson back to the team that originally drafted him during the 2014-15 season. Nelson would later take the Magic to NBA Finals in 2009.
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Entering the playoffs as the seventh seed, the Nuggets, for the second straight year, failed to make it out of the first round as they were unable to stop the San Antonio Spurs in five games. The Spurs were NBA Champions that season, their third in franchise history.
West First Round
(2) San Antonio Spurs vs. (7) Denver Nuggets
Last Playoffs meeting: 1995 Western Conference First Round (San Antonio won 3–0)