In the penultimate round of the regular season, the Nuggets played against the Timberwolves, winning directly to determine the first place in the West, and in the end, the Nuggets won the game with superior skills, and in the last two games, the Nuggets' opponents were the Spurs and the Grizzlies. This loss not only handed over the top spot in the west, but also fell directly to the third. The editor has calculated earlier that if the Thunder, Timberwolves and Nuggets, when the three teams have the same record, the Nuggets will be ranked third because of the disadvantage, and now as they wish, as long as they continue to lose in the next game, it will not be the top two. 5 Let the West No. 1, MVP None Want!Nuggets Exhaustion: Avoid the Lakers and Clippers in the playoffs
This season, the Nuggets have topped the West a total of 5 times, but all of them have been driven down in a short period of time. In any case, the Nuggets are not first in the West, and Jokic's MVP may be hopeless, because he already has 2 MVPs in hand, and the judges can't be too low in his requirements, and he must have both a record and a hard personal record. Of course, with Jokic's current state, it is true that he will no longer deliberately pursue MVP, he released water in the final stage last season, perfected Embiid, and now completes his little brother Doncic, it is also possible.
Why not first in the West, because the potential opponents are really strong, first of all the Clippers and Mavericks have locked up the fourth and fifth in the West, and the winner between them will be in the second round, against the winner between the first and eighth in the West. Whether it is the Clippers or the Mavericks, they both have the configuration of superstars + famous coaches, and the overall strength is relatively strong, and the Nuggets are not sure of winning against them.
Secondly, the first or second in the West, the first-round opponents are all play-in teams, and it is not until a relatively late time to know who the opponent is, which is not conducive to preparation, while the third in the West, which is now basically locked in the Pelicans and Suns, and the Nuggets can prepare several days in advance.
The overall strength of the West this year is terrifyingly strong, even the play-off teams are championship level, the Lakers and Warriors are determined to play the play-offs, their final ranking may be seventh or eighth, even the Kings, in the regular season is 2-1 Nuggets, Sabonis against Jokic is not left behind. In addition, if the Suns also play the play-offs, they may also face the Nuggets in the first round. Although the Suns are always open to everyone, they can always play their advantages in the face of the Nuggets. Although the Pelicans have a talent monster like Williamson, the Nuggets also have Gordon to carry, and they also have an advantage in experience, which is indeed easy to play.
Therefore, the Nuggets don't do two things, they don't even want the second, and they are directly third, completely avoiding the Lakers, Warriors, Clippers, and Mavericks, and at most they are likely to play the Suns, and at the same time let the main team get rest. I have to say that the Nuggets played a good hand. As early as 2019, the Nuggets played a tacit game with the Trail Blazers, pushing the Rockets to fourth in the West and meeting the Warriors in the semifinals early.