The 2016-17 season has been an absolute rollercoaster ride for the Denver Nuggets. A season riddled with mystery and uncertainty is heading for an unsettling end. At times, Denver has looked like the playoff-caliber team they hope to evolve in too, but in other instances throughout the year, the Nuggets have crumbled miserably. That said, the frequent inconsistency is the one issue that Denver has been unable to fix which has lead to the demise of the Nuggets this season.

Following the team’s heartbreaking 106-105 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder Sunday afternoon, the Nuggets were officially eliminated from playoff contention this season, reaffirming the franchise that their hopes of ending the team’s drought of success will have to be put on hold until next season.

The loss left a perplexing, eerie vibe in and around Pepsi Center. The inflated excitement that had built up as the season progressed had diminished to pity and confusion. With that, the Nuggets season has officially gone from bookend to bookend. The tumultuous downward spiral Denver entered as the season narrowed is the same wall of struggles Denver had to overcome at the beginning of the year.

Denver both opened and closed their games at Pepsi Center in heartbreaking fashion this season. To start things off, back in October, Denver watched Damian Lillard blow by a porous Nuggets defense to ice the game in Portland’s favor on Dikembe Mutombo Jersey retirement night. Looking back on it, if Denver’s defense would have found their sense of urgency the Nuggets could very well be preparing for a playoff run. That opening night loss set the tone for the Nuggets late-game play for the rest of the season.

Fast forward seven months and the Nuggets somehow managed to stay within distance of a playoff spot through a season that had warranted nearly 30 different starting lineups. Despite all the ups and downs, the opportunity presented itself for the Nuggets to keep their season alive, but the pressure of late-game situations once again proved to be too much for Denver to handle.

From Lillard to Westbrook, the Nuggets watched as Mr. triple-double himself shredded through Denver’s defense en route to recording his record-setting 42nd triple-double of the season. Westbrook put the cherry on top by hitting a game-winning three-point shot to end the Nuggets hopes at the playoffs in front of a sold-out Pepsi Center crowd, encompassing Denver’s season to a tee.

From both ends of the spectrum, Denver started and ended their season with disappointment. Inconsistency and lack of control haunted the Nuggets, which now has them scrambling to figure out what’s next.

“Goals? Our goal was the playoffs.” Gary Harris said of what this season still has to offer. “I mean we are a young team, but there comes a point in time where we have to learn to finish games. Hopefully, we can do a better job of that next year.”

“It is what it is,” Harris said. “We knew we needed that win and for us to lose like that it sucks.”

Nobody expected the Nuggets to make the playoffs this season, yet 2017 will always have a disappointing vibe to it. While Denver managed to continuously build towards a brighter future, the issues they faced this season are ones that could potentially handicap them years in advance.

The Nuggets inconsistency was too much to overcome. Now faced with the biggest offseason in his career, general manager Tim Connelly and company will be faced with the task at constructing a roster to play to the Nuggets strengths. Consistency in all aspects will be critical if Denver wants to continue on their path towards contention. The foundation for the future has been set in Denver, but the pressure is now on to add some assets to fully advance this team in the right direction and establish a level of consistency.