3 Things Nuggets fans should root for, 2 to root against to close season
By Ben Handler
Root for: Homecourt advantage
Having said that, it would still be great to get the one seed and know that the road to a Western Conference title runs through Denver. Everything I said about not exerting too much energy is valid, but we can still root for wins in the meantime.
The best-case scenario is that the starters get some extra rest while the bench players step up, get hot, and lead us to enough victories to hold off the Timberwolves and Thunder to clinch the top seed.
The Nuggets’ five remaining games are against the Hawks, Jazz Timberwolves, Spurs, and Grizzlies. They’ll be heavily favored in four of those games and should be able to win them without burning the starters for heavy minutes. Those games provide a perfect opportunity for the team to get back on track and get some rest at the same time.
Things are setting up for that April 10th game against the Wolves to be a defacto one-seed clinching game. I still don’t think Denver needs to go crazy to win it, but if there is one game to treat like the playoffs, that’s the one.
So again, the team needs to be smart, but they should be able to accomplish that goal while still going 5-0 or 4-1 and finishing atop the Western Conference for a second straight season.