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1994–95 Denver Nuggets season
NBA professional basketball team season
NBA professional basketball team season
- Dan Issel (resigned) (18–16)
- Gene Littles (interim) (3–13)
- Bernie Bickerstaff (20–12) (lost to Spurs 0–3)
- KWGN-TV
- Prime Sports Rocky Mountain
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. 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. Coming off their improbable playoff run, the Nuggets were bitten by the injury bug, losing LaPhonso Ellis for all but the final six games of the regular season due to a knee injury from an off-season pickup game.
Without their star forward, second-year forward Rodney Rogers became the team's starting power forward, while the Nuggets also replaced scoring leader Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf as the team's starting point guard with Robert Pack, as the team won five of their first six games. However, head coach Dan Issel resigned with the team holding an 18–16 record. Under his assistant Gene Littles, the Nuggets struggled losing 13 of their next 16 games as Littles was replaced with General Manager Bernie Bickerstaff. The team was out of playoff position with a 20–26 record at the All-Star break.
Pack would come down with a knee injury in February, as Abdul-Rauf returned to the lineup; Pack would return during the final month of the season in April, but would then re-injure his knee after only playing just 42 games, starting in 32 of them, averaging 12.1 points, 6.9 assists and 1.5 steals per game. Under Bickerstaff, the Nuggets would recover making a late push winning 20 of their final 32 games. On the final day of the regular season on April 23, 1995, the Nuggets faced off against the Sacramento Kings, as both teams were fighting for the eighth seed in the Western Conference; the Nuggets would defeat the Kings, 102–89 at the McNichols Sports Arena 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, and Rogers contributed 12.2 points and 4.8 rebounds 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, 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, and Tom Hammonds contributed 5.9 points and 3.2 rebounds per game.
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.
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, as the team lost 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.
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. Following the season, Rogers and Williams were both traded to the Los Angeles Clippers, and Pack was dealt to the Washington Bullets.
Draft picks
Main article: 1994 NBA draft
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | School/Club team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11 | Jalen Rose | SG/SF | United States | Michigan |
Roster
- Dan Issel (fired)
- Gene Littles (interim)
- Bernie Bickerstaff
- Tom Nissalke
Regular season
Season standings
Game log
Regular season
|- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 8 | November 19, 1994 7:00p.m. MST | Houston | L 101–109 | Williams (26) | Williams (9) | Abdul-Rauf (5) | McNichols Sports Arena 17,171 | 5–3 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 12 | November 29, 1994 6:30p.m. MST | @ Houston | L 81–96 | Rogers (16) | Mutombo (10) | Pack, Rogers (4) | The Summit 14,295 | 6–6 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 34 | January 14, 1995 7:00p.m. MST | Houston | W 118–104 | Abdul-Rauf (36) | Williams (10) | Williams (11) | McNichols Sports Arena 17,171 | 18–16 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 42 | January 31, 1995 6:30p.m. MST | @ Houston | L 74–86 | Rogers (23) | Mutombo (13) | Rogers (5) | The Summit 14,761 | 19–23 |- align="center" |- style="background:#cfc;" |- bgcolor="#bbffbb" |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 74 | April 9, 1995 1:30p.m. MDT | Houston | L 120–123 | Abdul-Rauf (34) | Mutombo (14) | Abdul-Rauf (7) | McNichols Sports Arena 17,171 | 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) | Alamodome 25,235 | 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 Arena 17,171
| 0–3 |
|---|
Player statistics
Regular season
| Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf | 73 | 43 | 28.5 | .470 | .386 | .885 | 1.9 | 3.6 | 1.1 | 0.1 | 16.0 |
| Reggie Williams | 74 | 70 | 29.7 | .459 | .320 | .759 | 4.4 | 3.1 | 1.5 | 0.9 | 13.4 |
| Rodney Rogers | 80 | 77 | 26.8 | .488 | .338 | .651 | 4.8 | 2.0 | 1.2 | 0.6 | 12.2 |
| Robert Pack | 42 | 32 | 27.2 | .430 | .417 | .783 | 2.7 | 6.9 | 1.5 | 0.1 | 12.1 |
| Dikembe Mutombo | 82 | 82 | 37.8 | .556 | .654 | 12.5 | 1.4 | 0.5 | 3.9 | 11.5 | |
| Dale Ellis | 81 | 3 | 24.6 | .453 | .403 | .866 | 2.7 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 11.3 |
| Bryant Stith | 81 | 51 | 28.8 | .472 | .294 | .824 | 3.3 | 1.9 | 1.1 | 0.2 | 11.2 |
| Jalen Rose | 81 | 37 | 22.2 | .454 | .316 | .739 | 2.7 | 4.8 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 8.2 |
| Bison Dele | 63 | 10 | 20.0 | .589 | .654 | 4.7 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 7.9 | |
| Tom Hammonds | 70 | 5 | 13.7 | .535 | .000 | .746 | 3.2 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 5.9 |
| Reggie Slater | 25 | 0 | 9.4 | .494 | .727 | 2.3 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 4.8 | |
| LaPhonso Ellis | 6 | 0 | 9.7 | .360 | 1.000 | 2.8 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 4.0 | |
| Cliff Levingston | 57 | 0 | 8.2 | .423 | .000 | .422 | 2.2 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 2.3 |
| Greg Grant | 14 | 0 | 10.8 | .303 | .286 | .750 | 0.6 | 3.1 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 2.2 |
| Eldridge Recasner | 3 | 0 | 4.3 | .167 | .000 | 1.000 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 |
| Darnell Mee | 2 | 0 | 4.0 | .200 | .333 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 1.5 | |
| Mark Randall | 8 | 0 | 4.9 | .300 | .000 | 1.5 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.8 |
Playoffs
| Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bryant Stith | 3 | 1 | 28.3 | .531 | .167 | .789 | 3.0 | 2.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 16.7 |
| Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf | 3 | 2 | 25.3 | .364 | .167 | 1.000 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 13.3 |
| Dale Ellis | 3 | 0 | 24.3 | .357 | .308 | .923 | 4.7 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 12.0 |
| Jalen Rose | 3 | 3 | 33.0 | .464 | .250 | .600 | 3.7 | 6.0 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 10.0 |
| Reggie Williams | 3 | 3 | 28.0 | .222 | .308 | 1.000 | 5.3 | 4.0 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 8.7 |
| Rodney Rogers | 3 | 3 | 25.3 | .545 | .250 | .250 | 4.0 | 1.7 | 1.0 | 1.3 | 8.7 |
| Bison Dele | 3 | 0 | 14.7 | .556 | 1.000 | 6.0 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 8.0 | |
| Tom Hammonds | 3 | 0 | 14.7 | .643 | .333 | 2.3 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 6.7 | |
| Dikembe Mutombo | 3 | 3 | 28.0 | .600 | .667 | 6.3 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 2.3 | 6.0 | |
| Cliff Levingston | 3 | 0 | 11.7 | .500 | .500 | 3.0 | 0.3 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 2.3 | |
| Greg Grant | 3 | 0 | 6.7 | .000 | .000 | 1.000 | 1.0 | 1.7 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.7 |
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
| Denver Nuggets}}" width="10%" | Player | Denver Nuggets}}" width="10%" | Signed | Denver Nuggets}}" width="10%" | Date | Denver Nuggets}}" width="19%" | Former team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reggie Slater | Free agent | August 2, 1994 | Girona (Spain) | ||||
| Cliff Levingston | Free agent | September 29, 1994 | Buckler Bologna (Italy) | ||||
| Dale Ellis | Free agent | October 4, 1994 | San Antonio Spurs | ||||
| Mark Randall | Signed two 10-day contracts | February 23, 1995 | Fort Wayne Fury (CBA) | ||||
| Eldridge Recasner | 10-day contract | March 14, 1995 | Yakima Sun Kings (CBA) | ||||
| Greg Grant | Signed two 10-day contracts | March 14, 1995 | Mexico City Aztecas (CBA) | ||||
| Mark Randall | Signed for rest of season | March 17, 1995 | Denver Nuggets | ||||
| Greg Grant | Signed for rest of season | April 5, 1995 | Denver Nuggets |
Subtractions
| Denver Nuggets}}" width="10%" | Player | Denver Nuggets}}" width="5%" | Reason left | Denver Nuggets}}" width="5%" | Date | Denver Nuggets}}" width="19%" | New team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alvin Robertson | Waived | October 3, 1994 | Toronto Raptors | ||||
| Mark Randall | Waived | November 1, 1994 | Fort Wayne Fury (CBA) | ||||
| Darnell Mee | Waived | February 1, 1995 | Tri-City Chinook (CBA) |
Trades
The Denver Nuggets did not make any trades in the off-season and the regular season.
Player Transactions Citation:
References
References
- [https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/DEN/1995.html 1994-95 Denver Nuggets]
- Denlinger, Ken. (June 30, 1994). "Robinson Goes with the Bucks". The Washington Post.
- Baker, Chris. (June 30, 1994). "NBA DRAFT: Clippers Select Murray: Pro Basketball: Cal Forward Drafted Amid Rumors of Impending Mark Jackson Trade". Los Angeles Times.
- "1994 NBA Draft". Basketball-Reference.
- (October 4, 1994). "Nuggets Sign Ellis". United Press International.
- (October 5, 1994). "Nuggets Sign Ellis". Orlando Sentinel.
- (October 5, 1994). "Nuggets Sign Ellis to Boost Their Three-Point Shooting". Tampa Bay Times.
- (November 21, 1994). "Nuggets' Ellis Lost for Season with Knee Injury". Chicago Tribune.
- (November 22, 1994). "Nuggets' Ellis to Undergo Knee Surgery". United Press International.
- (April 14, 1995). "Nuggets Activate Ellis". United Press International.
- (January 16, 1995). "SPORTS PEOPLE: BASKETBALL; Issel Quits as Coach of Nuggets". The New York Times.
- (January 16, 1995). "Issel Steps Down as Coach of Nuggets". Los Angeles Times.
- (February 21, 1995). "New Nugget Coach Bickerstaff Moves Littles Back to Assistant". Los Angeles Times.
- (February 21, 1995). "Bickerstaff Returns to Coach Nuggets". The Washington Post.
- "1994–95 Denver Nuggets Schedule and Results". Basketball-Reference.
- "NBA Games Played on February 9, 1995". Basketball-Reference.
- Howard-Cooper, Scott. (February 4, 1995). "Lakers in a Real Slump: Pro Basketball: Nuggets Bury Them in First Three-Game Losing Streak of Season, 88-74". Los Angeles Times.
- Weidie, Kyle. (August 4, 2008). "Remembering Robert Pack, a Bullet Flash in the Pan". Bullets Forever.
- (April 24, 1995). "PRO BASKETBALL; As Regular Season Ends, Denver's Season Lives On". The New York Times.
- (April 24, 1995). "NBA ROUNDUP: Nuggets Win to Clinch Final Playoff Spot, 102-89". Los Angeles Times.
- "Sacramento Kings at Denver Nuggets Box Score, April 23, 1995". Basketball-Reference.
- (May 1, 1995). "Mutombo Named NBA Defensive Player of the Year". United Press International.
- (May 2, 1995). "SPORTS PEOPLE: BASKETBALL; Mutombo Honored". The New York Times.
- "NBA & ABA Defensive Player of the Year Award Winners". Basketball-Reference.
- "1994–95 Denver Nuggets Roster and Stats". Basketball-Reference.
- Cotton, Anthony. (February 12, 1995). "New-Age NBA Reaches for the Stars". The Washington Post.
- (September 13, 2021). "1995 NBA All-Star Recap". NBA.com.
- "1995 NBA All-Star Game: West 139, East 112". Basketball-Reference.
- (February 11, 1995). "Basketball". The Tuscaloosa News.
- "1995 NBA Rising Stars: White 83, Green 79 (OT)". Basketball-Reference.
- (May 11, 1995). "Most Improved Player". The Telegraph-Herald.
- "1994–95 NBA Awards Voting". Basketball-Reference.
- (May 3, 1995). "1995 N.B.A. PLAYOFFS; Suns, Spurs and Pacers Make It a Sweeps Night". The New York Times.
- (May 3, 1995). "Spurs Sweep in a Rough One at Denver". Los Angeles Times.
- "1995 NBA Western Conference First Round: Nuggets vs. Spurs". Basketball-Reference.
- "1994–95 NBA Season Summary". Basketball-Reference.
- Wise, Mike. (June 29, 1995). "PRO BASKETBALL; Underclassmen Rule Atop N.B.A. Draft Board". The New York Times.
- (June 29, 1995). "NBA DRAFT: Clippers Deal No. 2 McDyess to Nuggets: Pro Basketball: L.A. Gets Rodney Rogers and Rights to Oregon State's Brent Barry. O'Bannon Goes Ninth to New Jersey, and Zidek Is Selected No. 22 by Charlotte". Los Angeles Times.
- Baker, Chris. (June 29, 1995). "NBA DRAFT: Clippers Hope This Shortcut Is Right Way: Pro Basketball: They Give Up No. 2 Pick McDyess to Get Rodney Rogers and No. 15 Pick Brent Barry from Nuggets". Los Angeles Times.
- (October 31, 1995). "PRO BASKETBALL; The Bullets Pick Up Pack". The New York Times.
- Justice, Richard. (October 31, 1995). "Maclean, Overton Traded". The Washington Post.
- Bembry, Jerry. (October 31, 1995). "Bullets Get to Point, Trading for Pack; MacLean, Overton Go to Nuggets for Guard". The Baltimore Sun.
- [https://www.basketball-reference.com/leagues/NBA_1995.html 1994-95 NBA Season Summary - Basketball-Reference.com]
- "1994–95 Denver Nuggets Transactions". Basketball-Reference.
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