The 1994–95 Denver Nuggets season was the 19th season for the Denver Nuggets in the National Basketball Association, and their 28th season as a franchise.
Season summary
Off-season The Nuggets had the 13th overall pick in the 1994 NBA draft, and selected shooting guard Jalen Rose from the University of Michigan, and signed free agent Dale Ellis during the off-season. Prior to the regular season, LaPhonso Ellis suffered a knee injury from an off-season pickup game; second-year forward Rodney Rogers replaced Ellis as the team's starting power forward, while Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf was replaced with Robert Pack as the team's starting point guard.
Regular season With the addition of Dale Ellis and Rose, and despite the loss of LaPhonso Ellis, the Nuggets won five of their first six games of the regular season. However, after an 18–16 start to the season, head coach Dan Issel resigned and was replaced with assistant coach Gene Littles as an interim coach. Under Littles, the Nuggets struggled losing 13 of their next 16 games; Littles was replaced with General Manager Bernie Bickerstaff as the team's new coach. The Nuggets were out of playoff position with a 20–26 record at the All-Star break.
Pack suffered a knee injury in February, as Abdul-Rauf returned to the starting lineup; Pack eventually returned during the final month of the season in April, but then re-injured his knee after only playing just 42 games. Under Bickerstaff, the Nuggets recovered playing above .500 in winning percentage by winning 20 of their final 32 games of the season; LaPhonso Ellis returned from his knee injury to play in the final six games. On the final day of the regular season on April 23, 1995, the Nuggets faced off against the Sacramento Kings at home at the McNichols Sports Arena, as both teams were fighting for the eighth seed in the Western Conference; the Nuggets defeated the Kings, 102–89 to qualify for the NBA playoffs, finishing in fourth place in the Midwest Division with a 41–41 record.
Dikembe Mutombo averaged 11.5 points, 12.5 rebounds and 3.9 blocks per game, and was named the NBA Defensive Player of the Year, and was also named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team. In addition, Abdul-Rauf averaged 16.0 points and 3.6 assists per game, while Reggie Williams provided the team with 13.4 points and 1.5 steals per game, Rogers provided with 12.2 points and 4.8 rebounds per game, and Pack contributed 12.1 points, 6.9 assists and 1.5 steals per game. Meanwhile, Dale Ellis played a sixth man role off the bench, averaging 11.3 points per game and leading the Nuggets with 106 three-point field goals, Bryant Stith contributed 11.2 points per game, and Rose provided with 8.2 points and 4.8 assists per game, and was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team. Brian Williams averaged 7.9 points and 4.7 rebounds per game, while Tom Hammonds provided with 5.9 points and 3.2 rebounds per game, and LaPhonso Ellis contributed 4.0 points per game during his short six-game stint.
During the NBA All-Star weekend at the America West Arena in Phoenix, Arizona, Mutombo was selected for the 1995 NBA All-Star Game, as a member of the Western Conference All-Star team, while Rose was selected for the NBA Rookie Game, as a member of the Green team. Rogers finished tied in ninth place in Most Improved Player voting. The Nuggets finished tenth in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 704,011 at the McNichols Sports Arena during the regular season.
NBA playoffs In the Western Conference First Round of the 1995 NBA playoffs, the Nuggets faced off against the top–seeded, and Midwest Division champion San Antonio Spurs, who were led by the trio of All-Star center, and Most Valuable Player of the Year, David Robinson, Sean Elliott, and rebound-specialist Dennis Rodman. However, without LaPhonso Ellis and Pack due to season-ending injuries, the Nuggets were unable to repeat their previous playoff run, losing the first two games to the Spurs on the road at the Alamodome, before losing Game 3 at home, 99–95 at the McNichols Sports Arena, thus losing the series in a three-game sweep.
This would also be the Nuggets' final NBA playoff appearance until the 2003–04 season, as what would follow was an eight-year playoff drought.
Aftermath Following the season, Rogers and Brian Williams were both traded to the Los Angeles Clippers, and Pack was traded to the Washington Bullets.
Draft picks
Round Pick Player Position Nationality School/Club team 1 13 Jalen Rose SG/SF Michigan
Roster
Regular season
Season standings
1994-95 NBA Season Summary - Basketball-Reference.com
Game log Regular season
|- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 8 | November 19, 19947:00p.m. MST | Houston | L 101–109 | Williams (26) | Williams (9) | Abdul-Rauf (5) | McNichols Sports Arena17,171 | 5–3 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 12 | November 29, 19946:30p.m. MST | @ Houston | L 81–96 | Rogers (16) | Mutombo (10) | Pack, Rogers (4) | The Summit14,295 | 6–6
|- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 34 | January 14, 19957:00p.m. MST | Houston | W 118–104 | Abdul-Rauf (36) | Williams (10) | Williams (11) | McNichols Sports Arena17,171 | 18–16 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 42 | January 31, 19956:30p.m. MST | @ Houston | L 74–86 | Rogers (23) | Mutombo (13) | Rogers (5) | The Summit14,761 | 19–23
|- align="center" |colspan="9" bgcolor="#bbcaff"|All-Star Break |- style="background:#cfc;" |- bgcolor="#bbffbb"
|- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 74 | April 9, 19951:30p.m. MDT | Houston | L 120–123 | Abdul-Rauf (34) | Mutombo (14) | Abdul-Rauf (7) | McNichols Sports Arena17,171 | 35–39
Playoffs
|- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 1 | April 28 | @ San Antonio | L 88–104 | Bryant Stith (16) | Bison Dele (12) | three players tied (3) | Alamodome25,235 | 0–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 2 | April 30 | @ San Antonio | L 96–122 | Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf (21) | Dale Ellis (10) | Jalen Rose (10) | Alamodome | 0–2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 3 | May 2 | San Antonio | L 95–99 | Rogers, Stith (18) | Rodney Rogers (9) | Jalen Rose (7) | McNichols Sports Arena17,171 | 0–3
Player statistics
Regular season Player GP GS MPG FG% 3FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPGMahmoud Abdul-Rauf734328.5.470.386.8851.93.61.10.116.0Reggie Williams747029.7.459.320.7594.43.11.50.913.4Rodney Rogers807726.8.488.338.6514.82.01.20.612.2Robert Pack423227.2.430.417.7832.76.91.50.112.1Dikembe Mutombo828237.8.556.65412.51.40.53.911.5Dale Ellis81324.6.453.403.8662.70.70.50.111.3Bryant Stith815128.8.472.294.8243.31.91.10.211.2Jalen Rose813722.2.454.316.7392.74.80.80.38.2Bison Dele631020.0.589.6544.70.80.60.77.9Tom Hammonds70513.7.535.000.7463.20.50.20.25.9Reggie Slater2509.4.494.7272.30.50.30.14.8LaPhonso Ellis609.7.3601.0002.80.70.20.84.0Cliff Levingston5708.2.423.000.4222.20.50.20.42.3Greg Grant14010.8.303.286.7500.63.10.40.12.2Eldridge Recasner304.3.167.0001.0000.70.31.00.02.0Darnell Mee204.0.200.3330.51.00.50.01.5Mark Randall804.9.300.0001.50.10.00.00.8
Playoffs Player GP GS MPG FG% 3FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPGBryant Stith3128.3.531.167.7893.02.30.30.316.7Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf3225.3.364.1671.0001.71.70.70.013.3Dale Ellis3024.3.357.308.9234.71.00.70.312.0Jalen Rose3333.0.464.250.6003.76.01.00.710.0Reggie Williams3328.0.222.3081.0005.34.01.00.38.7Rodney Rogers3325.3.545.250.2504.01.71.01.38.7Bison Dele3014.7.5561.0006.00.70.00.38.0Tom Hammonds3014.7.643.3332.30.30.00.76.7Dikembe Mutombo3328.0.600.6676.30.30.02.36.0Cliff Levingston3011.7.500.5003.00.31.00.72.3Greg Grant306.7.000.0001.0001.01.70.30.00.7
Player statistics citation:
Awards, records, and honors Dikembe Mutombo, NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award Dikembe Mutombo, NBA All-Defensive Second Team Jalen Rose, NBA All-Rookie Team 2nd Team
Transactions Free agents Additions Player Signed Date Former teamReggie SlaterFree agentAugust 2, 1994Girona (Spain)Cliff LevingstonFree agentSeptember 29, 1994Buckler Bologna (Italy)Dale EllisFree agentOctober 4, 1994San Antonio SpursMark RandallSigned two 10-day contractsFebruary 23, 1995Fort Wayne Fury (CBA)Eldridge Recasner10-day contractMarch 14, 1995Yakima Sun Kings (CBA)Greg GrantSigned two 10-day contractsMarch 14, 1995Mexico City Aztecas (CBA)Mark RandallSigned for rest of seasonMarch 17, 1995Denver NuggetsGreg GrantSigned for rest of seasonApril 5, 1995Denver Nuggets
Subtractions Player Reason left Date New teamAlvin RobertsonWaivedOctober 3, 1994Toronto RaptorsMark RandallWaivedNovember 1, 1994Fort Wayne Fury (CBA)Darnell MeeWaivedFebruary 1, 1995Tri-City Chinook (CBA)
Trades The Denver Nuggets did not make any trades in the off-season and the regular season.
Player Transactions Citation:
References
Nuggets on Basketball Reference