It’s taken a while, but the Denver Nuggets have regained first place in the Western Conference standings and plan to stay there when they face the San Antonio Spurs on Friday in Austin, Texas.
It’s a battle between the team with the best record in the conference (Denver) and the worst (San Antonio).
The Nuggets (46-20), the defending NBA champions, have won four straight and 10 of their last 11 games. They edged out the Oklahoma City Thunder and Minnesota Timberwolves last week and moved into sole first place in the West for the first time since mid-November.
“If we can get (the No. 1 seed), of course we’re going to take it,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “We’re not going to hide that. It was very effective for us last year, having a home field for the duration of the playoffs.”
Denver has been the hottest team in the league since the All-Star break. Its most recent victory was a 100-88 decision at Miami on Wednesday in a rematch of last season’s final series. Michael Porter Jr. scored a game-high 25 points while Aaron Gordon added 16 points, Jamal Murray 14 points and Nikola Jokic had 12 points and 14 rebounds for the Nuggets in the victory.
“You have to win games when Nikola doesn’t score 40,” said Christian Braun, who had seven points in the fourth quarter to help Denver pull ahead. “There’s not a lot of times he doesn’t do that, but in these games we have guys who can step up.”
The Spurs (14-52) head into Friday’s matchup coming off a 103-101 loss to Houston at home Tuesday in the second game of a back-to-back set at home. Tre Jones scored 24 points for San Antonio in the loss while Jeremy Sochan scored 21, Victor Wembanyama had 13 points and 10 rebounds and Julian Champagnie and Blake Wesley added 10 points each.
San Antonio was down eight points with 6:19 to play, but cut the lead to 99-98 after Sochan’s three-point play with 18.5 seconds left. The Spurs then lost their second straight game and their fourth in their last five outings.
“We held on in the second half and went back and forth,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said after the loss. “But as is usual in the NBA, over time we had to make shots, and we didn’t do that.”
San Antonio has six games remaining in an eight-game season-long homestand and must win seven of its final 16 games to surpass the franchise’s all-time worst record of 20-62 set during from the 1996-97 season.
“Coach (Popovich) said it again this evening in the locker room: ‘That’s our job, and that’s what we’re here for: to win as soon as possible but also in the long term’.” Wembanyama said. “So there is no other option.”
Friday’s game and San Antonio’s game against Brooklyn on Sunday will be played about 80 miles north of Alamo City in Texas’ capital and will be the Spurs’ annual regional campaign.
“I know the Austin fans who aren’t able to attend as many games in San Antonio definitely bring that energy there, and that’s something we feel and look forward to,” Jones said.
