Can the Denver Nuggets earn the top seed in the Western Conference?
With Golden State losing to the Phoenix Suns on the road, the Denver Nuggets still have a shot to claim the top seed in the West.
After beating the Denver Nuggets 122-105, the Golden State Warriors laid an egg against the Phoenix Suns in their next game, losing 115-111 at home. With the Warriors loss, the Nuggets move 1.5 games back of the top spot in the conference.
Realistically, it is completely possible for Denver to snag the #1 seed from Golden State. It seems the Warriors are sometimes an up and down team who only show up when they have to, like against the Nuggets. Golden State kicks it into another gear when they play Denver because they know that a challenge awaits.
With about 15 games remaining (17 at the time of this article), the Nuggets have plenty of time to climb back into the top spot. The Nuggets do have a tough stretch of games at the end of the year, facing the Warriors, Spurs, Trail Blazers (twice), Jazz, and Timberwolves in their final six games. If Denver can lock in and win four of those six games, they will be in extremely good shape.
There is some concern that if Denver locks up the #1 seed that they might have to play the Rockets in the second round if the Thunder get the #3 seed and the Rockets get the #4 seed. However, this shouldn’t deter Denver from going for the top seed, as securing the top seed in the west would be an amazing accomplishment for this young Nuggets team.
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This is the hardest part of the season. The players are tired, the stakes are high, and the games just get a little bit tougher. If the Nuggets can push through this tough stretch and win some games, they could set themselves up nicely in the playoffs and achieve a pretty big goal as well.