A win tonight puts the Nuggets in position where anything is possible

Four years ago, the Nuggets suffered heartbreak at the hands of the Timberwolves in the final game of the regular season. Minnesota outlasted Denver 112-106 in overtime to eliminate the Nuggets while clinching the Western Conference’s final playoff berth. The stakes aren’t quite as high Friday night at Ball Arena, but the stage is set for another big showdown between these teams with playoff implications.

The 2018 loss was a growing pain for a young Nuggets team and one that fueled their fire and helped propel them to the first of three-consecutive playoff berths since. Denver is now an established team in the West with the soon-to-be back-to-back MVP and one of the brightest futures in basketball.

Minnesota, on the other hand, regressed after that playoff berth in 2018. Jimmy Butler demanded a trade the next season and the Wolves bottomed out, while Denver won four playoff series over the next three seasons.

But this year is different in Minnesota. Former Nuggets assistant Chris Finch has resuscitated Karl-Anthony Towns, and with some additional young talent, they have a top-10 offense in the league. They were 11-2 after the All-Star Break before dropping four of their last five games.

Minnesota comes to town on Friday in seventh place in the West, trailing the Nuggets by three games with five to play. Denver’s wins in Charlotte and Indiana this week, while the Wolves suffered losses at Boston and Toronto, have provided a little cushion from the play-in panic. But now, it’s time for the Nuggets to slam that door shut.

With a win, the Nuggets can feel safe about avoiding the play-in and locking up a spot in the top six. A loss, however, would give Minnesota life with the Wolves only having a road game at Houston and three home games remaining.

Denver’s final week of the regular season won’t be easy with a trip to L.A, followed by home games with San Antonio and Memphis before finishing with the Lakers for the second time in a week. At least three of those games will be against a desperate team playing for the final spot in the West play-in.

Winning Friday to steer clear of the seven-through-10 play-in seeds is objective No. 1, but there are a few other things the Nuggets can still accomplish over the next 10 days:

Win 50 games
Reaching the long-time standard for success in the NBA despite not having Jamal Murray or Michael Porter Jr. would be an enormous accomplishment and a credit to the organizational culture. The Nuggets would also finish with a record comparable to both Philadelphia and Milwaukee in the East, and all but lock up a second consecutive MVP for Nikola Jokic.

Win the Northwest Division
Despite losing all four games to Utah head-to-head this season, the Nuggets are tied with the Jazz atop the division standings. As late as the All-Star break, the Nuggets were a 20-1 long shot to overtake Utah. Because of the tie-breaker, Denver has to finish one game ahead of Utah to secure another division crown and the fifth seed in the playoffs. They’ll need Utah to lose one more game than they do in the final week, but the way the Jazz have been out of tune down the stretch it’s certainly possible.

Buy time
Jokic has been an ironman. Aaron Gordon has played through injuries. Will Barton historically has broken down late in the season. JaMychal Green has missed the last two games with a wrist injury. And the elephant in the room remains the possible returns of Murray and Porter. By finishing strong, avoiding the play-in, and maybe even moving up high enough to get a favorable first round match-up with Golden State, the Nuggets buy some rest. It gives them a better chance to win their first round series, and more time to see if Murray and/or Porter can return.

Michael Malone has been criticized for not giving out more specifics about Murray and Porter’s timetables all season, but he did provide some great insight this week.

“This is not a mile race where it’s four laps and it’s over,” Malone said. “We have no idea where the finish line is. Until we have a better idea of that, let’s leave all options on the table and see what happens on a day-to-day basis.”

That sounds like a coach who has every intention of making some noise in the playoffs. The Nuggets best chance to do it starts by making a convincing statement against the Timberwolves Friday night.

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