The NBA season is in its last week and there is a lot to be settled, particularly in the Western Conference. One team is fighting for the top seed while five others are vying for a spot above the play-in tournament.
That adds a little drama to the Golden State Warriors vs. Denver Nuggets game on Sunday night.
With four games remaining in the season, Golden State (41-37) is in a position that few might have anticipated the defending champion would find itself in. The team is still in a position to qualify for the playoffs. The Warriors have had a volatile season, one characterized by an unusually poor road record.
Golden State is only 9-29 away from home and has been without one of its vital supporters from last season, Andrew Wiggins, who has not played since Feb. 13 for individual reasons. Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Jordan Poole are the Warriors’ sharpshooting trio, and they play at a high level.
In the Warriors’ victory over San Antonio on Friday night, Poole made six 3-pointers, joining Curry and Thompson as the only players this season with more than 200 attempts from beyond the arc. The Houston Rockets’ James Harden, Eric Gordon, and Ryan Anderson are the only teammates to have done so.
More importantly, his 27 points, Curry’s 33 points, and Thompson’s 31 points helped Golden State secure a playoff spot.
While Denver (51-26) has already secured a postseason berth, it has not yet secured the Western Conference’s top seed. With five games remaining, the Nuggets lead Memphis by two games and have lost two in a row.
Denver is ahead of the Grizzlies in the tiebreaker.
By sitting Nikola Jokic (calf tightness) for the past two games, the Nuggets have prioritized caution over securing the top seed. They lost to New Orleans on Thursday night at home without him, and they lost to Phoenix on Friday night when Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (non-COVID illness), Michael Porter Jr. (left heel), and Jamal Murray (left knee management) joined Jokic on the injury report.
Since Denver did not participate in practice on Saturday, the four players’ statuses were not immediately known.
The four players didn’t make the outing Friday, leaving Aaron Gordon as the solitary starter and offering a few seat players a chance to get court time. As the playoffs approach, Christian Braun continues to argue for more playing time and got a rare start.
Jokic, who is on the verge of a historic season, will be crucial. He is averaging 24.9 focuses, 11.9 bounce back and 9.9 helps and can turn into the third player in NBA history to average a triple-twofold for a season. He can likewise be the fourth player to win the MVP grant three continuous years.
