The Denver Nuggets control their own destiny for the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference.
The Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves entered Wednesday night with the exact same record—55-24—deadlocked in a tie for first place in the Western Conference. With just three games left in the regular season, a win would likely give the victor inside positioning for the No. 1 seed. Plus, Minnesota held the tie-breaker over Denver after building a 2-1 regular season series lead, meaning that a win was even more of the essence for the team in blue, red, and gold.
The Nuggets got it done. They took down the Timberwolves, 116-107, in highlight fashion. All Denver has to do is win out against the Memphis Grizzlies (27-53) and the San Antonio Spurs (20-60) to secure first place in the Western Conference for the second straight season. As a reminder, Denver used its homecourt advantage to go 16-4 in the 2023 postseason and lose just one playoff game at Ball Arena en route to the first NBA championship in franchise history.
"We want the homecourt advantage. Simple as that," Jamal Murray said after the game.
The Nuggets are also just two wins away from setting the franchise record for most wins in a season... 58 is the magic number. Denver is now 33-8 at Ball Arena, the second-best home record in the NBA.
"This has become the toughest place to play in the NBA," said head coach Michael Malone. "That crowd, I mean, tonight was a playoff game. That was a playoff atmosphere between two great teams, and obviously, when you have the Ball Arena crowd showing up like they do, it just gives us an advantage. It gives us life. So, a huge thank you to all of our fans."
Nikola Jokić had an astronomical performance and put up 41 points, 11 rebounds, and 7 assists. He scored 15 of his points in the third quarter mostly against the projected Defensive Player of the Year, Rudy Gobert. It was an MVP-caliber performance, to put it bluntly.
"Rudy Gobert is going to be a Hall of Fame player one day. Rudy Gobert is gonna be regarded as one of the best defenders of his generation," Malone said. "It just speaks to how great Nikola is. I don't think anybody in the NBA can guard Nikola one-on-one."
Jamal Murray also pitched in 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting in 27 minutes of play. This was just his third game back from a seven-game injury-related absence, and Murray got it done despite a minutes restriction. Plus, Wednesday's game against Minnesota came on the wrong side of a back-to-back; they played Utah the night before, and Murray dressed for both contests.
"Jamal came up to me on the plane ride home from Utah," Malone explained. "He was like a little kid, man, begging to play. And that's what I love about him. I mean, nothing was keeping him off that floor tonight. Nobody."
Denver's bench was highly productive, spearheaded by the off-the-charts athleticism of their two sophomores. Christian Braun finished with 8 points on 4-of-7 shooting, 5 rebounds, 1 block, and 1 steal. Most importantly, he had one of the best in-game dunks of the NBA season—an unbelievable poster dunk on the head of the three-time Defensive Player of the Year, Gobert.
Peyton Watson also overwhelmed the Timberwolves with his athleticism and blocked a career-high 6 shots to go with 4 rebounds and 4 assists.
"You saw two young players taking advantage of a golden opportunity," Malone said about Watson and Braun.
Both teams came out with incredible intensity in the first half. Denver's defense was rotating frantically, while Minnesota did a great job collapsing on driving lanes. The Nuggets' bench gave the group a great stretch, and Watson somehow swatted away 4 shots in 8 minutes. Jokić led the charge with 17 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists in the first half, however, it was Minnesota who led at the break, 52-49.
Jokić took over in the third quarter and repeatedly went at Gobert in isolation and on post-ups. Minnesota managed to keep things close until the halfway point in the fourth quarter when Denver built a 10-point lead, and then, pandemonium ensued. First, Braun absolutely posterized Gobert in transition. Then, he served up another highlight dunk off a lob from Michael Porter Jr. Watson blocked his sixth shot of the game—a Naz Reid three-pointer—and slammed home a highlight dunk on the other end. It was an unbelievable minute-long sequence as the sophomores put the game out of reach for Wolves.
The Nuggets are now two wins away from winning the regular season footrace in the Western Conference.