It was only a little more than a week ago when FoxSports.com’s Mike Kahn wrote this little doozie. Of course, Kahn wrote the piece after the Nuggets had been schooled by the Suns 108-125 and were on a three game slide that included a loss to the resident NBA powerhouse, the Seattle Supersonics. In the article, Kahn points out a few of the Nuggets’ deficiencies, namely their lack of defensive play. Fast forward to now and we see a Nuggets team that has everything going their way. They’re rolling. After last nights win, the Nuggets showed that they CAN play defense. The question now is will they when the need to, in the playoffs?

With the little four-game winning streak the Nuggets have put together, momentum is building. Although they seem to be finding their stroke, the Nuggets still have a lot of work to do until the regular season is a wrap. The next three games are against playoff-caliber teams in the form of the Clippers, Lakers and Jazz. The Nuggets finish the season with a game against the NBA’s hottest team, the San Antonio Spurs. Add that to the fact that five of Denver’s seven final games are on the road, and you have yourself the kind of character-building challenge that frightens any thug, even a Denver Nugget.

Before last nights game, there were a lot of questions. Do the Nuggets even know what the word “defense” means? Does Nene have his green card? Is Adrian Dantley a better coach than George Karl? Was that ‘Melo I just saw on “America’s Most Wanted”? The win over the Mavs put to rest many of the questions that were haunting Nuggets fans. Consistency is still a concern for the average fan. Can the Nuggets do it in the playoffs? Pretty soon, we’ll find out.