Keeping Score - After Wobbly Start, Nuggets Find Balance - NYTimes.com The Denver Nuggets entered the 2012-13 season with high expectations, but an 11-12 start put to rest any talk of an appearance in the N.B.A. finals, with some pundits wondering if they would even qualify for the playoffs. The Nuggets have come roaring back, however, winning 18 of their last 24 games, and now find themselves in sixth place in the Western Conference, just one and a half games behind fourth-place Memphis. The Nuggets are a middle-of-the-pack team defensively, yielding 105.4 points per 100 possessions, a rate that puts them right at the league average. But on the other end of the floor things are a little more interesting. Denver's offense is an entertaining combination of speed and efficiency: the Nuggets average 94.8 possessions per game, the second fastest pace in the N.B.A., and they score 108.6 points per 100 possessions, the league's sixth best scoring rate. But unlike most high-scoring teams, Denver lacks an elite scorer, something they make up for with incredible balance. Danilo Gallinari's average of 17.0 points a game leads the Denver attack, but the Nuggets have eight other players averaging at least 8.1 points per game. At first glance Gallinari might seem like an inefficient offensive player, as he is shooting. 423 from the field. But he takes more than 40 percent of his shots from behind the 3-point line, and is shooting a solid .372 on those shots. Thus his effective field goal percentage - which adjusts for the extra point provided by the 3-point shot - is a very respectable .500. Galinari also leads the team in free throw attempts, converting them at an .811 clip, and he rarely turns the ball over: his average of 8.9 turnovers per 100 plays is the fifth lowest rate in the N.B.A. among players averaging at least 15 points per game. Another key component in the Denver offense is the second-year forward Kenneth Faried. He was known for his high motor in his four years at Morehead State, averaging 14.8 points and 12.3 rebounds per game while shooting .569 from the floor, and those skills have translated well to the N.B.A. Faried has grabbed slightly more than 15 percent of all available offensive rebounds over his first two seasons, the best mark in the league among players with at least 2000 minutes played. And in part because he gets so many offensive rebounds, Faried is an efficient scorer from the field: his .557 field goal percentage is good for ninth in the N.B.A. Denver's season may not have gotten off on the right track, but the train seems to be rolling in the right direction now. As the only team in the league with wins over the Western Conference's big three teams - the Spurs, the Thunder, and the Clippers - the Nuggets are a serious threat to make some noise in the playoffs.