1995–96 Denver Nuggets season

1995–96 Denver Nuggets season
Head coach	Bernie Bickerstaff
Arena	McNichols Sports Arena
Results
Record	35–47 (.427)
Place	Division: 4th (Midwest) Conference: 9th (Western)
Playoff finish	DNQ
Local media
Television	Prime Sports Rocky Mountain, KWGN
Radio	KOA

The 1995-96 NBA season was the Nuggets' 20th season in the NBA and 29th season as a franchise. During the offseason, the Nuggets traded Rodney Rogers and first round draft pick Brent Barry to the Los Angeles Clippers for rookie Antonio McDyess. They also traded Robert Pack to the Washington Bullets for Don MacLean. However, they got off to a horrible start losing eight of their first nine games. The Nuggets finished fourth in the Midwest Division with a 35-47 record. Following the season, Dikembe Mutombo signed as a free agent with the Atlanta Hawks.

Draft picks

Main article: 1995 NBA Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	School/Club Team
1	15	Brent Barry (traded to LA Clippers)	Shooting Guard	United States	Oregon State
2	44	Anthony Pelle	Center	United States	Fresno State

Roster

Denver Nuggets roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB (YYYY–MM–DD) From PG 1 Abdul-Rauf, Mahmoud 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 162 lb (73 kg) LSU C 8 Cvetković, Rastko 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 260 lb (118 kg) Serbia SF 3 Ellis, Dale 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Tennessee PF 20 Ellis, LaPhonso 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Notre Dame C 50 Fish, Matt 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 235 lb (107 kg) UNC Wilmington PG 9 Grant, Greg 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) 140 lb (64 kg) Trenton State PF 21 Hammonds, Tom 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Georgia Tech PF 7 MacLean, Don 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 235 lb (107 kg) UCLA PF 24 McDyess, Antonio 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Alabama C 55 Mutombo, Dikembe 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m) 245 lb (111 kg) Georgetown PG 11 Overton, Doug 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) La Salle SG 5 Rose, Jalen 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Michigan SG 23 Stith, Bryant 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 208 lb (94 kg) Virginia SF 34 Williams, Reggie 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Georgetown	Head coach Bernie Bickerstaff (San Diego) Assistant coach(es) Bob Kloppenburg (Southern California) Gene Littles (High Point) Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured Roster • Transactions

Regular season

Season standings

Midwest Division	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-San Antonio Spurs	59	23	.720	–	33–8	26–15	19–5
x-Utah Jazz	55	27	.671	4	34–7	21–20	14–10
x-Houston Rockets	48	34	.585	11	27–14	21–20	15–9
Denver Nuggets	35	47	.427	24	24–17	11–30	13–11
Dallas Mavericks	26	56	.317	33	16–25	10–31	10–14
Minnesota Timberwolves	26	56	.317	33	17–24	9–32	10–14
Vancouver Grizzlies	15	67	.183	44	10–31	5–36	3–21

Western Conference
#	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	c-Seattle SuperSonics	64	18	.780	–
2	y-San Antonio Spurs	59	23	.720	5
3	x-Utah Jazz	55	27	.671	9
4	x-Los Angeles Lakers	53	29	.646	11
5	x-Houston Rockets	48	34	.585	16
6	x-Portland Trail Blazers	44	38	.537	20
7	x-Phoenix Suns	41	41	.500	23
8	x-Sacramento Kings	39	43	.476	25
9	Golden State Warriors	36	46	.439	28
10	Denver Nuggets	35	47	.427	29
11	Los Angeles Clippers	29	53	.354	35
12	Dallas Mavericks	26	56	.317	38
13	Minnesota Timberwolves	26	56	.317	38
14	Vancouver Grizzlies	15	67	.183	49

Game log

Game	Date	Opponent	Result	Nuggets points	Opponents	Record	Streak	OT
1	November 3	@ LA Lakers	Loss	96	98	0-1	Lost 1
2	November 4	San Antonio	Loss	108	116	0-2	Lost 2
3	November 7	@ Golden State	Loss	93	98	0-3	Lost 3
4	November 8	Seattle	Loss	117	122	0-4	Lost 4
5	November 10	@ Utah	Loss	86	109	0-5	Lost 5
6	November 12	@ LA Clippers	Loss	103	108	0-6	Lost 6
7	November 15	@ Phoenix	Win	137	127	1-6	Won 1	3OT
8	November 17	New York	Loss	94	103	1-7	Lost 1
9	November 18	@ Houston	Loss	97	101	1-8	Lost 2
10	November 21	Atlanta	Win	107	99	2-8	Won 1
11	November 24	@ Dallas	Win	112	109	3-8	Won 2	OT
12	November 25	Utah	Win	94	91	4-8	Won 3
13	November 28	@ Sacramento	Loss	85	91	4-9	Lost 1
14	December 2	Minnesota	Win	109	105	5-9	Won 1
15	December 4	Detroit	Win	85	82	6-9	Won 2
16	December 7	@ Utah	Win	124	119	7-9	Won 3
17	December 8	Phoenix	Win	103	98	8-9	Won 4
18	December 11	@ Philadelphia	Win	104	91	9-9	Won 5
19	December 12	@ Indiana	Loss	92	125	9-10	Lost 1
20	December 14	@ New York	Win	103	94	10-10	Won 1
21	December 16	@ Atlanta	Loss	86	95	10-11	Lost 1
22	December 17	@ Cleveland	Loss	79	92	10-12	Lost 2
23	December 20	Golden State	Win	109	104	11-12	Won 1
24	December 21	@ San Antonio	Loss	96	114	11-13	Lost 1
25	December 23	LA Clippers	Loss	92	107	11-14	Lost 2
26	December 26	Dallas	Win	114	102	12-14	Won 1
27	December 27	@ Seattle	Loss	83	99	12-15	Lost 1
28	December 29	@ Phoenix	Loss	92	103	12-16	Lost 2
29	December 30	Philadelphia	Win	108	100	13-16	Won 1
30	January 2	Indiana	Loss	87	102	13-17	Lost 1
31	January 4	@ Sacramento	Loss	96	126	13-18	Lost 2
32	January 6	Miami	Loss	86	88	13-19	Lost 3
33	January 7	@ LA Lakers	Win	96	93	14-19	Won 1
34	January 10	@ Vancouver	Win	91	85	15-19	Won 2
35	January 12	Cleveland	Win	90	83	16-19	Won 3
36	January 13	Portland	Loss	117	118	16-20	Lost 1
37	January 16	@ Portland	Loss	69	87	16-21	Lost 2
38	January 17	Houston	Loss	112	120	16-22	Lost 3
39	January 20	Sacramento	Loss	110	115	16-23	Lost 4
40	January 24	@ Seattle	Loss	79	86	16-24	Lost 5
41	January 25	@ LA Clippers	Loss	93	94	16-25	Lost 6
42	January 27	Toronto	Win	93	82	17-25	Won 1
43	January 30	@ Minnesota	Win	88	86	18-25	Won 2
44	February 1	@ Milwaukee	Loss	102	108	18-26	Lost 1
45	February 4	Chicago	Win	105	99	19-26	Won 1
46	February 6	LA Lakers	Loss	78	99	19-27	Lost 1
47	February 8	LA Clippers	Win	115	95	20-27	Won 1
48	February 13	@ Orlando	Loss	93	121	20-28	Lost 1
49	February 15	@ Miami	Loss	91	97	20-29	Lost 2
50	February 16	@ Charlotte	Loss	100	107	20-30	Lost 3
51	February 18	Boston	Win	117	93	21-30	Won 1
52	February 22	@ Portland	Loss	78	107	21-31	Lost 1
53	February 24	Utah	Win	99	90	22-31	Won 1
54	February 27	Washington	Win	96	92	23-31	Won 2
55	February 29	Dallas	Loss	120	137	23-32	Lost 1
56	March 2	Vancouver	Win	108	82	24-32	Won 1
57	March 4	San Antonio	Loss	90	101	24-33	Lost 1
58	March 6	@ San Antonio	Loss	90	100	24-34	Lost 2
59	March 7	Phoenix	Win	103	92	25-34	Won 1
60	March 9	Golden State	Win	102	88	26-34	Won 2
61	March 10	New Jersey	Loss	88	99	26-35	Lost 1
62	March 12	Orlando	Win	110	93	27-35	Won 1
63	March 15	@ Chicago	Loss	87	108	27-36	Lost 1
64	March 17	@ Detroit	Loss	81	91	27-37	Lost 2
65	March 18	@ Toronto	Win	122	114	28-37	Won 1
66	March 21	@ New Jersey	Loss	89	97	28-38	Lost 1
67	March 22	@ Boston	Loss	98	99	28-39	Lost 2
68	March 24	@ Washington	Loss	90	92	28-40	Lost 3
69	March 26	Charlotte	Loss	112	119	28-41	Lost 4	2OT
70	March 28	@ Vancouver	Win	92	88	29-41	Won 1
71	March 30	Milwaukee	Win	98	85	30-41	Won 2
72	April 2	Minnesota	Win	86	78	31-41	Won 3
73	April 4	@ Golden State	Loss	90	98	31-42	Lost 1
74	April 5	Portland	Loss	91	97	31-43	Lost 2
75	April 7	Houston	Win	111	105	32-43	Won 1
76	April 9	LA Lakers	Win	98	91	33-43	Won 2
77	April 11	@ Houston	Loss	109	113	33-44	Lost 1
78	April 14	@ Minnesota	Win	98	91	34-44	Won 1
79	April 15	Sacramento	Loss	86	90	34-45	Lost 1
80	April 18	@ Dallas	Loss	98	132	34-46	Lost 2
81	April 19	Vancouver	Loss	78	92	34-47	Lost 3
82	April 21	Seattle	Win	99	88	35-47	Won 1

Player statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG

Awards, records, and honors

• Antonio McDyess, NBA All-Rookie Team 1st Team

References

• Nuggets on Basketball Reference