Strike 1: The Denver Nuggets look completely spent. Like they’re running on fumes.

And who could blame them? Same thing happened to the Colorado Avalanche at this point last season. After a long and successful playoff run, followed by the shortest offseason in franchise history, they were asked to run it back with a roster that’s not as good as it was the season before, when they won it all.

And they’ve gone into a rugged playoff series beat up as well. Sound familiar?

Let’s be honest. Denver earned/got a great draw last spring when everything fell into place, including having home court all the way through the playoffs. Those things matter. Lots of championship teams get those kinds of breaks – well earned in most cases – along the way. No shame in having Miami knock out Boston a year ago and setting the Nuggets up for an easier run to the title.

It’s been different this year, starting with an offseason that saw the bench get significantly weaker while the Western Conference got substantially stronger. That has forced Denver’s starters to play a lot more highly competitive minutes. Then there was what appears, at the moment at least, to be an ill-advised decision to stand pat at the trade deadline, even when it was clear the bench needed a significant upgrade. The icing on the cake was the meltdown in San Antonio in the second to last game of the regular season, when the Nuggets let a 23-point lead slip away against a last place Spurs team that beat Denver at the buzzer and cost them the top seed in the Western Conference playoffs.

That top spot mattered. A lot.

As a result of all that, the exhausted Nuggets didn’t get the easier path this spring. Had they had enough in their tank – and on their bench – to take care of the Spurs, they would have gotten an easier first round matchup against New Orleans, then had to take on the “Allas” Mavericks, (who have no idea what the D is supposed to stand for) in Round 2. Instead, they have to deal with a loaded Minnesota team that’s built specifically (by the same person, Tim Connelly, who built most of Denver’s roster) to beat them.

All of this is coming home to roost, as they say. And now things look bleak for Nuggets Nation.

Could things still work out for the defending champs? Sure. They could rally and win Game 2, then go back and win one in the Twin Cities and get to come home even while still possessing home court in a potential Game 7. But here on Earth One, everyone can see that the Timberwolves look very much the better team, starting with their first round beat down of the Suns and continuing with their impressive Game 1 win at Ball Arena. They are fresher, (much) deeper and can even beat Denver’s size and strength inside.

But the Nuggets have the best player in the world and all that playoff savvy. We’ll find out if that’s enough.

Chances are really good that it won’t be.

It’s more likely that Denver will get a longer offseason to try to rest up, regroup, and hopefully restock their roster. Simply put, standing pat – again – with the roster as is would be a terrible mistake. The vaunted Nuggets core is still in its collective prime, but the self-anointed “best starting five in the NBA” still needs help to return to the top of the mountain. Counting on Peyton Watson or Christian Braun to suddenly develop into a “Sixth-man of the Year” candidate is fallacy. Not going to happen. The Nuggets collection of young players are talented, but far from ready for prime time, as we can all see.

Denver needs veteran help off the bench. Someone who can perhaps, you know, shoot?

Connelly’s replacement at the top of the Nuggets front office pyramid, Calvin Booth, has done a very good job to this point. He made the key acquisition of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope before last season. By all accounts, he’s drafted well, too. But the spotlight will soon shift, and begin to shine directly on him. Booth will need to do something even more significant during the coming offseason. He has to address Denver’s glaring deficiencies off the bench so that the championship window can remain open for the talented Denver core. The Nuggets have to be aggressive in the draft, free agency and via the trade route. Using some of their young unproven talent as a trade chip should not be off the table.

Otherwise, the team built by Booth’s predecessor may slam the Nuggets title window shut permanently.