Showdown between Nuggets and Timberwolves on Wednesday could decide top seed in the West
The Denver Nuggets are inching closer to the end of the regular season, and the only major question last year's champs face right now is will they be able to clinch the No. 1 seed in the West in the playoffs again.
They've been wrestling with the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Minnesota Timberwolves for that No. 1 spot for weeks, and it looks like it will be a photo finish for home-court advantage. As of Monday afternoon, Denver and Minnesota are both and 54-24, and OKC is a game back at 53-25. The Nuggets have only four games left, and one is against the Wolves. That pivotal game takes place at Ball Arena on Wednesday night.
"Technically, we can't say for certain that the winner of this game is the Western Conference's No. 1 seed... but that's the likeliest outcome here," Sam Quinn of CBS Sports writes in a new article "16 games this week will help determine almost every postseason seed."
"All things considered, this is the most important game of the week (and maybe the season)," Quinn writes.
Adding some intrigue to the matchup: it will be the second night of a back-to-back for both teams (MN faces the Wizards at home on Tuesday and the Nuggets face the Jazz in Salt Lake City) and the Timberwolves could have their star forward Karl-Anthony Towns back in the roster.
Denver Coach Michael Malone has insisted he's more concerned with his team's health than its seeding -- as evidenced by his not rushing point guard Jamal Murray back into the lineup after a knee injury despite a 4-3 record in his absence -- but Denver did parley the No. 1 seed a year ago into a 10-1 home record in the playoffs on its way to winning the franchise's first NBA championship.
"Of course it matters," Murray said after their weekend win over the Atlanta Hawks. "It's the No. 1 seed. You get the home-court advantage for the whole playoffs."
In addition to that impressive 10-1 home record in last year's playoffs, Quinn pointed out that the Nuggets were also 6-3 on the road last postseason. And they have all 5 starters back and (hopefully) healthy for this year's postseason.
"It's unclear just how much they need to care about seeding," Quinn wrote.
Last week Brad Botkin of CBS Sports ranked the Nuggets at the top of the heap in his NBA title contenders list.
"Denver becomes the championship favorite because of this quality-shot reliability (star Nikola Jokic creates). No matter how tight a possession becomes, the Nuggets possess the captain and cohesion to comfortably work their way through it. That creates a consistency that holds up under all conditions," Botkin wrote.