The Nuggets still might win the No. 1 seed in the West, and as long as they don’t get ejected out of the first round, this season has been an unmitigated success. The earliest Denver will face the favored Warriors in the postseason is the conference finals. That’s the nice thing about fighting with Golden State over the 1-seed: it gives you a pass from facing them for two rounds.
The Nuggets have a Rockets problem
We have that and more in Friday’s NBA newsletter.
Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
But the Rockets might be just as much of a problem for the Nuggets. Houston beat Denver 112-85 on Thursday to take the season series, 3-1. The Rockets have outscored the Nuggets by double-digits in all three wins, and it’s pretty clear Denver really just is not built to beat Houston.
Meanwhile, the Nuggets have down quite well against the Clippers, Thunder, and Blazers, and have held their own against the Spurs and Jazz. We know Denver will avoid Golden State until the conference finals. The Nuggets won’t catch Houston in Round 1 — the Rockets are 3.5 games up on the No. 7 seed, which is the highest seed Denver would face in the opening round. But can the Nuggets avoid the Rockets in the second round?
The routes for that would be for Denver to capture the No. 1 seed and hope the Rockets end up No. 3 over the Blazers, or for Denver to land at No. 2 and hope the Blazers edge the Rockets for No. 3. Portland is one game better in the loss column than Houston right now and has the head-to-head tiebreaker. So Denver is sitting pretty ... for now. But this could come down to some chicanery from the Warriors and the Nuggets in the closing days of the season. It’s likely that both would rather saddle the other with the Rockets.
Even if Denver does draw itself into Houston’s bracket and loses in the second round, this is a dream season. It’d be a little more dreamy if the Nuggets found a way to get all the way to the conference finals or beyond. Avoiding the Rockets helps those chances.
Scores
Magic 98, Pistons 115
Nets 110, Sixers 123
Mavericks 99, Heat 105
Raptors 117, Knicks 92
Nuggets 85, Rockets 112
Clippers 118, Bucks 128
Kings 118, Pelicans 121
Cavaliers 110, Spurs 116
Schedule
All times Eastern. Full schedule for the weekend here.
Friday:
Pacers at Celtics, 7, NBA TV
Saturday:
Sixers at Timberwolves, 8, NBA TV (Jimmy’s return!)
Sunday:
Hornets at Warriors, 8:30, NBA TV
I don’t really understand why the NBA clears the TV decks for college basketball to this extreme during the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight. Some compelling counter-programming action on NBA TV could be welcome respite for non-college fans.
Links
The Spurs retired Manu Ginobili’s jersey on Thursday, and it was a magnificent celebration of a magnificent basketball player.
What should the Sixers expect from Jimmy Butler in the playoffs? If it’s anything like his appearance on Hot Ones, he’ll start shaky and finish strong.
Standings check: The West bracket remains a mess. The races are between Denver and Golden State for No. 1, Houston and Portland for No. 3, and everyone else for 5-8. In the East, Detroit’s magic number is down to five and the Heat got a huge win. It’s going to come down to the wire, whatever that means.
Chris Haynes reports a Boston fan called DeMarcus Cousins the N-word when the Warriors played there earlier this season. This fan has been banned for, uh, two seasons. This raises the question: what gets you a lifetime ban in Boston? Wearing a Lakers jersey? (To be clear: this so-called fan should be banned from the arena and ejected into a celestial body of Cousins’ choice.)
Tom Haberstroh reminds us that momentum going into the playoffs is a myth.
Be excellent to each other.
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