The final sprint towards the playoffs is launched, and the first apothecary calculations with it. The results of the last few days – the defeat of Oklahoma City in San Antonio, that of Minnesota on Sunday against the Clippers – as well as the good series of the Nuggets have relaunched the fight at the top of the Western Conference. For Denver, a question now arises: that of the strategy to adopt in the defense of the 2023 title.
For Mike Malone, the answer is simple. “ For me, finishing in first place in the Conference is not my number one or two priority to be completely honest » assured the Rockies coach after his team's success against Washington on February 23. “ We have the means to finish number one, it’s entirely achievable. But I don't want to win this battle and lose the war. Having home court advantage in the first round is very, very important. Having a healthy team in the playoffs is very important. And if we manage to be seeded number one, that would be the icing on the cake. »
A three-way fight with the Thunder and the Wolves
His group is not necessarily of the same opinion. Nikola Jokic sent a message to the entire squad upon his return from the All-Star Game, with a clear objective: to finish the season strong.
“ It really motivated us all. » revealed Kentavious Caldwell-Pope last week, reports the Denver Post. “ We want to win another ring. »And for this, KCP does not provide details on its vision of things. “ This is the crucial moment, we want to finish at the top of the West. »
The Nuggets positioned themselves perfectly to get there, with six wins in a row. Denver thus only has one more defeat than Oklahoma City, which took the lead thanks to its success against Phoenix on Sunday, and now has the same record as Minnesota with 42 victories for 19 defeats. The Clippers are a little further behind, without being behind either (39 victories – 20 defeats).
In addition to his excellent dynamic, the reigning champion has part of his destiny in his hands, if the current three-way fight continues until the end of the regular season. Of their 21 games remaining, the Nuggets have three clashes against Minnesota on the schedule (March 19 and 29 then April 10), while the Wolves won the first act at home. Three wins and Denver would have a double whammy: gain the advantage in the event of a tie at the end of the season, and move even closer to the heights of the West.
The best major five in the entire NBA
Denver must, however, be ahead of the Thunder by one victory to avoid an unfavorable tie-breaker with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's squad, victorious in three of the four regular season duels. The schedule is more favorable on paper to the Nuggets, on the 19the average record of opponents, with 49.1% victories, according to Tankathon (17e for OKC, 15e for the Wolves, the 9the for the Clippers).
All that remains is to make this great series of victories last. Jamal Murray had a big scare against the Heat by twisting his ankle before returning in the following match against the Lakers. A match in which Kentavious Caldwell-Pope did not take part for personal reasons. Denver will need its major five Jamal Murray – Kentavious Caldwell-Pope – Michael Porter Jr – Aaron Gordon – Nikola Jokic.
This quintet is simply the best in the entire NBA in points per game (50.4 points per game), second in number of assists per game, behind a short-lived Pacers lineup used for 19 minutes this season (Nembhard – Brown–Nesmith–Toppin–Turner). And the collective record of the title holder is affected: 28 victories for 8 defeats with the usual five, 14-11 without.
The temptation to rest could be great at the end of the season, but Denver only has limited room for maneuver to bring together the ambitions of its coach and that of its players. “ Rest ? We'll see. Maybe. I hope. Or not » Nikola Jokic had fun. Joking but above all determined, the Serb also knows that his “desire to finish strong” the regular season can turn into a poisoned chalice. “ Nobody wants to play the Lakers or Warriors in the first round » admitted the double MVP.
| Shots | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Bp | Int | Ct | Party | Pts |
| Nikola Jokic | 59 | 34.0 | 58.1 | 34.1 | 82.0 | 2.9 | 9.4 | 12.2 | 9.2 | 2.9 | 1.2 | 0.9 | 2.6 | 25.9 |
| Jamal Murray | 45 | 31.3 | 47.9 | 41.9 | 85.2 | 0.6 | 3.3 | 3.9 | 6.4 | 2.1 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 1.8 | 20.6 |
| Michael Porter, Jr. | 60 | 31.8 | 48.1 | 39.8 | 82.1 | 1.4 | 5.8 | 7.2 | 1.5 | 1.1 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 1.9 | 16.6 |
| Aaron Gordon | 55 | 31.5 | 55.6 | 29.1 | 65.3 | 2.4 | 4.1 | 6.6 | 3.2 | 1.5 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 1.9 | 14.0 |
| Reggie Jackson | 61 | 22.8 | 44.9 | 35.4 | 77.6 | 0.4 | 1.6 | 2.0 | 3.9 | 1.3 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 1.8 | 10.4 |
| Kentavious Caldwell-pope | 55 | 31.7 | 44.2 | 38.8 | 91.9 | 0.5 | 1.9 | 2.3 | 2.4 | 0.9 | 1.3 | 0.4 | 1.9 | 10.1 |
| Christian Braun | 61 | 19.2 | 43.4 | 34.5 | 70.9 | 0.9 | 2.7 | 3.5 | 1.4 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 1.5 | 6.8 |
| Peyton Watson | 59 | 18.2 | 47.1 | 33.6 | 67.9 | 0.7 | 2.2 | 2.8 | 1.0 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 1.7 | 6.8 |
| Julian Strawther | 39 | 12.7 | 37.5 | 30.4 | 72.0 | 0.1 | 1.2 | 1.3 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 1.2 | 5.3 |
| Deandre Jordan | 29 | 11.3 | 63.2 | 0.0 | 44.9 | 1.7 | 2.9 | 4.6 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 1.7 | 4.1 |
| Justin Holiday | 38 | 14.4 | 46.3 | 40.7 | 75.0 | 0.2 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 1.2 | 3.9 |
| Zeke Nnaji | 46 | 9.8 | 43.7 | 25.0 | 69.8 | 1.2 | 1.0 | 2.2 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 1.4 | 3.3 |
| Colin Gillespie | 19 | 8.5 | 51.1 | 45.8 | 62.5 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.9 | 3.3 |
| Jalen Pickett | 20 | 5.3 | 40.0 | 31.8 | 75.0 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.6 | 1.7 |
| James Huff | 12 | 2.8 | 54.5 | 37.5 | 100.0 | 0.1 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.6 | 1.4 |
| Braxton Key | 17 | 3.2 | 37.5 | 25.0 | 66.7 | 0.2 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 1.0 |
| Hunter Tyson | 10 | 3.0 | 20.0 | 12.5 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.6 | 0.5 |
