Denver Nuggets vs. Chicago Bulls

One of the founding teams of the American Basketball Association in 1967, the Denver Nuggets franchise was originally known as the Denver Rockets. They preemptively changed their name to the Nuggets before the 1974–75 season, anticipating a move to the NBA (where Houston’s team already had the name). In their nine ABA seasons, the Nuggets made the playoffs seven times — losing in the finals to the New York Nets in the league’s final year.

They were one of four ABA teams annexed to the NBA in 1976 and immediately were one of the most successful teams, winning the Midwest Division two straight years behind future Hall of Famers David Thompson and Dan Issel. In 1980, the arrival of another future Hall of Famer, high-scoring forward Alex English, began a run of nine consecutive seasons in the playoffs. Coach Doug Moe’s offensive-minded squads made it past the first round of the playoffs four times, falling three times in the conference semifinals and once in the conference finals, in 1985 to the Los Angeles Lakers.