Denver Nuggets winners in NBA’s return-to-play format

With the NBA’s board of governors planning to approve the league’s proposal of a 22-team format to resume the 2019-20 season, the Denver Nuggets are winners.

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the NBA’s board of governors are planning to approve the proposal of a 22-team return-to-play format during a conference call that will take place at 12:30 PM on Thursday.

There will be 13 Western Conference teams who will return in total, a number that includes both the current playoff teams and the teams within six games of the eighth-seed (the New Orleans Pelicans, Portland Trail Blazers, San Antonio Spurs, Sacramento Kings and Phoenix Suns). With eight regular-season games before the playoffs begin, which won’t just give playoff hopefuls a chance to move up the standings but the current playoff teams as well.

The Denver Nuggets, who are currently 3rd in the Western Conference standings, are 1.5 games behind the 2nd-seed Los Angeles Clippers and 7.0 games behind the top-seeded Los Angeles Lakers.

Can the Denver Nuggets move up the standings?

It’s, quite frankly, unrealistic to expect the Nuggets to overtake the Lakers for the top seed in the West. However, they could overtake the Clippers.

This wouldn’t be easy, with Denver’s schedule — if the league should stick to it — showing that they’re playing five of the eight games coming against some of the stronger playoff teams (including both the Lakers, Clippers, Toronto Raptors and Miami Heat).

The Clippers were originally scheduled will face playoff teams five times in their last eight regular-season games, including two games against the Brooklyn Nets (the 7th-seed in the East).

Moving up to the 2nd-seed could allow them to avoid facing the Houston Rockets, who they would face in the playoffs if the current standings stood, in the first round.

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The Rockets are led by a pair of former MVPs in James Harden and Russell Westbrook, making them a formidable opponent to face early in the playoffs. Denver went 2-2 against Houston this season but all of those games occurred before the Rockets traded center Clint Capela to the Atlanta Hawks and focused on playing small-ball.

It would be to Denver’s benefit if they could face the Utah Jazz or Oklahoma City Thunder instead, as they don’t have the firepower of the Rockets. While Houston averages 118.1 points per game this season, Utah averages 111.0 points per game and Oklahoma City averages 110.8 points per game.

Yet, there’s also the chance that the Nuggets end up facing the Dallas Mavericks, who are almost as strong offensively as Houston (they average 116.4 points per game) thanks to the dynamic Luka Doncic.

The Nuggets are 1-2 against the Mavericks this season.

What if the Denver Nuggets drop in the standings?

With just a 1.5-game lead on the Jazz (the 4th-seed in the West), this could also cause them to drop down the standings too though. The furthest they could slip in the West is to 7th, as they have a 4-game lead on the Mavericks but an 11-game lead on the Memphis Grizzlies (8th in the Western Conference standings).

Dropping down the standings would still give them the chance to face a team other than the Rockets in the first round though. So long as they don’t slip all the way down to the 7th-seed and end up facing a team like the Clippers, it could be seen as a win-win for Denver.

Whether they move up or down the standings, the Nuggets are best served by the NBA’s return-to-play format because having regular-season games gives them the opportunity to avoid playing the Rockets in the first round. Interestingly enough, Denver preferred a return-to-play format where they would go straight to the playoffs (per The Denver Post’s Mike Singer).

Houston is one of their worst potential matchups because of their playoff experience, star power and their style of play, all of which could lead to an early and disappointing playoff exit.