The Nuggets Finally Remembered What a Starting Lineup Looks Like

If you have spent the last few weeks trying to handicap the Denver Nuggets' rotation, you can finally cancel your therapy sessions. Underdog NBA reported early Monday that Denver is officially starting Jamal Murray, Christian Braun, Johnson, Aaron Gordon, and Nikola Jokic.

This means the Nuggets are finally putting their actual heavy hitters on the floor at the same time. For fantasy managers and prop bettors, this is the equivalent of waking up to find out your canceled flight was magically rebooked in first class. You no longer have to guess which end-of-bench forward is going to randomly log 35 minutes of cardio.

"Underdog NBA reported: 'Lineup alert: Nuggets will start Murray, Braun, Johnson, Gordon, Jokic on Monday.'"

Getting this specific group on the floor together is a minor medical miracle given the recent state of Denver's injury report. Aaron Gordon has been battling a right hamstring strain, while Christian Braun has been playing through a left ankle sprain that turned the wing rotation into a nightly guessing game.

When the main guys actually play, the results are exactly what you expect. Jamal Murray is currently cooking defenders to the tune of 24.3 points and 6.1 assists per game this season.

You do not need an advanced analytics degree to know that giving Nikola Jokic his actual starting wings and a healthy Murray is a massive problem for the rest of the league. It is like handing the keys of a sports car back to a professional driver after forcing him to commute on a rusted bicycle for a week.

Denver takes this fully operational lineup into Monday night's road matchup against the Houston Rockets. If this starting five can actually stay off the injury report for more than 48 hours, the 5-3 Nuggets are primed to remind everyone exactly who runs the Western Conference.