The Denver Pieces are nearly a genuinely new thing for the establishment, and it tends to be achieved when Tuesday.
Denver (52-26) is one victory away from securing the top seed in the Western Conference, a position it has never held since joining the NBA in 1976, provided Memphis does not lose. That might occur when it goes to Houston on Tuesday night to play the Rockets.
After a convincing victory over the Golden State Warriors on Sunday, the Nuggets reached this point. Peyton Watson was introduced to the rest of the basketball world in this, their third consecutive game without their star Nikola Jokic, who has been suffering from calf tightness since last week.
Watson, a UCLA rookie, has played a lot of garbage time this season, but he got a chance to play real minutes in Phoenix on Friday. He played well enough to get more minutes on Sunday night, and he played in the final minute of a 112-110 victory over Golden State.
Before Friday, Watson had played 52 total minutes and has now played 47 in the past two games. He could see even more playing time in the final three games if Denver can beat Houston to win the West.
In addition to that, it might give the Nuggets a chance to rest Jokic and the other starters ahead of a difficult playoff run.
After Sunday, the Rockets’ (19-60) long offseason will begin, and the lottery results will determine where they finish this spring. Houston has the NBA’s second-worst record after Detroit, which is 16-62, and could win the highly desired No. 1 pick assuming the lottery balls fall its direction.
However, the players are unconcerned about that; They are concentrating on making a name for themselves in the NBA. One model is the point at which they confronted Detroit on Friday night and energized in the final quarter to beat the Cylinders.
Houston was a contender just three years ago and was one win away from the NBA Finals two years earlier, but things have changed quickly. The Rockets exchanged their stars and began a revamp, and it could get a lift in the event that they truly do get the top pick and the opportunity to choose French phenom Victor Wembanyama.
Jokic is a superstar for Denver, but the team is excited about a title run because of the other players around him. After the recent performances of rookies Christian Braun and Watson, the Nuggets may be a little deeper.
