This seemed symmetrical: Five observations, five games into the Nuggets season.

So let’s do it.

This stuff has caught my eye.

Winning has No Clear Vibe: If you are looking for a common thread to the Nuggets, as a team, winning or losing so far, you are fighting an uphill battle.

There just isn’t one yet.

The Nuggets have held two opponents under 100 points. They are 1-1 in those games. The Nuggets have had two games at home. They are 1-1 in those games. The Nuggets have been held to 104 points or fewer twice. They are 1-1 in those games. The Nuggets have allowed over 130 points twice. They are 1-1 in those games.

Right now, the Nuggets are simply finding ways to win in each individual instance vs. dictating terms that every opponent must adjust to each night. And so this is an area to watch. Can they form an identitiy that is repeatable every night?

They want it to be defense, and as they continue to make strides on that end we’ve seen some uneven performances. The fact that they’ve already held two opponents under 100 points is a sign that changes on that end are working, but they’ve got to be able to do it on a nightly basis.

A Big Jump in Minutes: Through the first five games, Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and Christian Braun are all averaging career-highs in minutes played.

It will be interesting to see if coach David Adelman tries to get those numbers down, especially for Jokic and Murray, who carry huge responsibility nightly. The last thing the Nuggets want is for those two players in particular to be considerably worn down by the time the playoffs roll around.

The Lineup The Nuggets Must Play, But Might Be Difficult To Get To: Coach David Adelman isn’t super married to analytics, but the numbers associated with this particular Nuggets 5-man lineup jump off the page:

Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon, Christian Braun… and Trevon Brazile.

The quintet has a net rating of 52.5, BY FAR the best of any 5-man Nuggets lineup that has played at least 10 minutes together — and there are five such combos. This one has a defensive rating of 82.0. No other has a defensive rating under 100. And the offensive rating of 134.4 is second only to the normal starting lineup (144.4).

This lineup has played the most minutes together so far, but with the return of Cam Johnson to the lineup after a brief injury absence, getting that particular group on the floor will be challenging.

Brazile, who started a couple of games while Johnson was out, is back to reserve duty. But barring injury or foul trouble, it is DeMar DeRozan who is the first reserve off the bench and pretty much always will be. Therefore, Adelman can’t just organically re-create that lineup.

Brazile might be next off the bench, but because the rotation is set, Adelman will have to get creative if he wants to get the Jokic/Murray/Gordon/Braun/Brazile lineup on the court together.

Aaron Gordon’s Midrange Shooting: AG is off to a quiet start, scoring-wise, and it is his 2-point shooting that is the culprit.

In specific, his midrange shooting.

In the area of 5-to-19 feet, Gordon has made just 3-of-13 shots (23 percent) so far this season. Everywhere else on the court he is just fine, including a robust 50 percent at the rim and a very respectable 36 percent from the 3-point line.

West Looks Best: There was so much optimism prior to the season that the Eastern Conference would experience a resurgence this year with many talented teams. But, the early returns are the West continues to be the dominant conference.

Western Conference teams are 10-5 against Eastern foes, going into Monday’s games. And the Eastern Conference overall has just FOUR teams with winning records.

Some things never change.