Ranking the Nuggets' potential first-round playoff matchups from easiest to hardest

6th Hardest: Sacramento Kings

This may seem like a crazy choice considering the Kings are 3-0 against the Nuggets this year, but the regular season is not the playoffs. Each of those losses came with players missing and compromising rest/travel circumstances.

That’s not to say the Kings aren’t good and those wins weren’t earned, but a playoff series would be a completely different ballgame. Their offense is kind of like a worse version of Denver’s, with Sabonis being a smaller, not (nearly) as good version of Jokic and De’Aaron Fox playing the Murray role.

While those guys are great, they’ve never won a playoff series and both come with flaws. Sabonis doesn’t have shooting range and is a major liability on defense. His play simply doesn’t translate to a playoff setting. Fox has had his best season as a pro, but his efficiency has fallen off lately.

This team relies on a fast-paced, high-powered offense to outscore teams. In the playoffs, things slow down and games are ground out in the halfcourt, where the Nuggets thrive. But the Kings offense has dropped all the way to 14th in the league, and their defense is 21st.

I don’t believe they will be able to get enough stops to stay in playoff games against the Nuggets. They might be able to drag them into a shootout and steal a game if a few of their role players go off - especially at home, but this would be a relative breeze.