You can feel it at the morning shootaround, the relaxed vibe between Nuggets players and coaches, talking trash, but also talking shop.

You can see it on the court, the ball zipping inside and outside, nobody trying to, as they say in the NBA, "get mine."

You can hear it in the locker room, as after Wednesday's 102-87 win at Atlanta, when Denver's Kenyon Martin said, "It's fun to play basketball the right way — always has been, always will be.

"It just makes everyone want to play that much harder on the defensive end. On the bench, we're talking it out if there's a problem. We're just making adjustments on the fly. We're all staying together." 

The Nuggets (41-27) are 9-2 since trading stars Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups to the Knicks.

Yet, asked if the team is better since the trade, forward Al Harrington said Wednesday: "Yeah, we're definitely better. We're just so deep. We have 12 guys that can play any given night. That makes us dangerous."

"With the energy we're playing with, everybody likes playing now," according to head coach George Karl. "Everybody seems to be contributing.  I just enjoy coaching them; they enjoy playing right now."