Those who win have lost, and those who have lost have won! The first place in the west has become a hot potato Zhuge Malone began to pick opponents again

The NBA regular season has entered the penultimate round of competition, in addition to the top ten teams in the West, the specific rankings are still in chaos, not only the play-off Warriors, Lakers, Suns and other popular teams are in chaos, the competition for the first place in the West has also entered the white-hot stage, the Thunder, Nuggets and Timberwolves are all eligible to compete for the first position, due to the 1-3 potential playoff difficulty is completely different, the Nuggets Zhuge Malone began to pick opponents again.

The Thunder, Nuggets, and Timberwolves have the following records on the same day

The Thunder beat the Bucks 125-107, the Nuggets lost to the Spurs 120-121, and the Timberwolves beat the Hawks 109-106.

After three games, the three teams have the same record of 56 wins and 25 losses, and the Thunder rose to first place in the West with a three-way advantage, the Timberwolves continued to rank second, and the Nuggets fell directly to third.

Zhuge Malone picks opponents

With the Bucks and Lillard both sidelined, the Thunder and Timberwolves are not surprising, and the Nuggets' defeat by the Spurs is undoubtedly the biggest upset and unplanned thing.

At this point in the regular season, it's almost impossible to beat the first in the penultimate upset, and Zhuge Malone is significantly more likely to pick opponents, who have also been picking opponents before the playoffs start in the past few seasons.

The difficulty of the first three playoff trips in the West is completely different

According to the current ranking, the first and second places in the West are very dangerous positions.

The first probability is to face the Lakers or Warriors in the first round, and the second probability is to face the Suns in the first round.

Regardless of the fact that all three teams are in the play-in tournament, the playoffs are completely different from the regular season, and the quality of the stars will play a very key role, and the Warriors, Lakers and Suns will obviously pose a huge threat to their opponents in this regard.

To make matters worse for the first place in the West, the Clippers and Mavericks have locked up the fourth and fifth spots in the West.

This means that the first place in the West, after a difficult defeat to the Warriors or Lakers in the first round, will have to face the winner between the Clippers and the Mavericks in the second round, and the difficulty of advancing can be described as full.

In contrast, the third most likely place in the West will be against the young Pelicans, and the difficulty of the second round is also much lower than against the Clippers or the Mavericks, and it is not until the Western Conference finals that the Warriors, Lakers, Clippers and Mavericks are four difficult opponents.

Therefore, for the Nuggets, it seems that the loss has given up the initiative to compete for the first place in the West, but in fact, the initiative to pick a playoff opponent is tightly in their hands.

The Nuggets gave up the chance to set the best record in franchise history, and if they had won both games, the Nuggets would have had a chance to get 58 wins, compared to the previous record of 57-25 in the 12-13 season.

In the last game, the Nuggets' opponent was the Grizzlies, which can be said to win if they want to win and lose if they want, the Thunder's opponent is the Mavericks (Eastern European rotation), and the Timberwolves' opponent is the Suns.

With a last-game loss, the Nuggets can lock up the third spot and can adjust the rankings according to the situation of the other two teams.

If the remaining two teams lose, the Nuggets can return to first place if they win, and if the Timberwolves win and the Thunder lose, the Nuggets can return to second place if they win.

The winning Timberwolves and Thunder can only compete for the first place in the West as much as possible, and if they want to return to the third position, they need to see the face of the Nuggets.

Judging from the age composition and season goals of the two teams, the Nuggets and Thunder are likely to choose to compete for the top spot in the West.

Because for them, instead of picking a playoff opponent to compete for an illusory championship, it is better to win the first place in the West to motivate the whole team to work hard throughout the season.

The same is true for the Spurs, who overtook the Hornets in the overall standings after the win, moving up to fourth from bottom in the league and temporarily losing the probability of competing for the top three.

According to the league's current rules, the probability of the top three competitors in the bottom three is 14%, and the fourth place drops to 12.5%.

So for the Nuggets, the team looks like it's losing, but it's actually winning, and for the Thunder, Timberwolves, and Spurs, the team looks like it's winning, but it's actually losing.