3 things to watch: Denver Nuggets at Indiana Pacers

The Denver Nuggets are on a hot streak now, but they can’t let up if they want to get the No. 1 seed. First up is Indiana. Here’s what to watch.

Make it six in a row for the Denver Nuggets. With a win over the Knicks at Madison Square Garden, the Nuggets pulled back into a tie with the Warriors for the No. 1 seed.

But Denver’s schedule is just about to ramp up. And it doesn’t get any easier from here.

After Indiana Sunday, the Nuggets have Detroit, Houston and Oklahoma City — three more playoff teams.

In fact, nine of the Nuggets 11 remaining games come against playoff teams. Denver has the fourth toughest remaining strength of schedule, according to Tankathon.

None may be more important than a showdown at Golden State on April 2. But first Denver has a few games to take care of.

First comes Indiana.

Last time the Nuggets played the Pacers — just over a week ago — Paul Millsap came up huge. Speaking of which.

Can Paul Millsap keep it up?

Millsap has been on a tear for the past few weeks — and he’s had no bigger moment in that stretch than a buzzer-beating layup against the Pacers last Saturday.

That layup came as part of a huge fourth quarter for Millsap. And it came on the heels of a 33-point game against Dallas the game before.

Millsap has played well enough over this stretch to get serious consideration as a long term part of this team — though it’s not going to come with a $30 million price tag after this season.

If Millsap could keep this up for a playoff run, it would be huge for the Nuggets.

Will Nikola Jokic dominate Myles Turner again?

Jokic probably remembers the last Pacers matchup best for picking up two quick technicals and getting tossed with less than five minutes to go in the game.

But when he got thrown out, he was having a pretty nice game. Against a really good defensive team.

Jokic finished with 26 points, seven rebounds and five assists — and most of that came against Myles Turner, a Defensive Player of the Year candidate.

Turner leads the NBA with 2.74 blocks per game. But Jokic’s wide array of shots around the rim kept him from falling victim.

Will the Pacers ever win again?

Well, obviously. But hopefully not quite yet.

The Pacers current four-game losing streak started at Pepsi Center and continued with a stretch on the West coast.

They haven’t quite looked as good as they did when Oladipo first went down — but they have had a tough schedule. All four of their losses come against Western Conference playoff teams.

And it doesn’t really ease up. Seven of their remaining nine come against playoff teams — and one of the non-playoff teams is a Magic close still in contention out East.