Preview & Game Thread: Denver Nuggets close out the season against Houston Rockets

The Essentials

Who: Denver Nuggets (49-32) at Houston Rockets (52-29)

When: 1:30 PM MDT

Where: 30 year old used trucks for $30k Center. Houston, TX.

How to watch/listen: Altitude TV, Altitude+, Altitude Radio 92.5FM, NBA League pass for those not in the Nuggets market.

Rival blog: The Dream Shake

What’s at stake: Seeding. Denver can land anywhere from the 4 to 7 seed depending on how three games shake out today. The tie breakers for the NBA are convoluted but for our purposes we really only need to be aware of three: in a head to head tie between two teams the first tie breaker is head to head record, the second tiebreaker (if the teams are not in the same division) is conference record. In a tie between more than two teams the first tiebreaker is division champion which none of the teams in play are, so we default to the second tie breaker which is combined record against the teams that are tied. Here’s a look at what it takes to land in each of the four potential spots for Denver.

4 Seed: A win by Denver today clinches the four seed as the Clippers would be the only team that could tie them on overall record and Denver owns the head to head tiebreaker with L.A. via a better conference record. If the Clippers win or the Wolves lose then Denver will play L.A. in the first round. If the Clippers lose and the Wolves win then Denver will play Minnesota in the first round

5 Seed: A loss by the Nuggets and the Wolves will put Denver into the 5 seed facing L.A. in the first round regardless of what happens in the Warriors/Clippers game. In the event of a Warriors win, Denver holds the tiebreaker against Golden State but not Los Angeles in a three way tie due to combined record against those two teams(LAC: 5-3; DEN: 4-3; GSW: 2-5). In the event of a Clippers win, Denver would hold the 5 seed outright, no tiebreakers would be needed.

6 seed: A loss by Denver and the Warriors plus a win by the Wolves will land Denver in the six seed as they would finish a game behind the Clippers and lose the head to head tie breaker with the Wolves (Denver is 0-4 this season against Minnesota). This would make Denver face the Los Angeles Lakers, who are locked into the three seed, in the first round.

7 seed: A loss by Denver today as well as victories by the Wolves and Warriors will land Denver in the seven seed. This would cause a 4 way tie between the Nuggets, Wolves, Clippers and Warriors and Denver will lose on combined record against the tied teams. (MIN: 8-3; LAC: 5-6; GSW: 5-6; DEN: 4-7). Denver would become a play-in team and would host the Memphis Grizzlies for the chance to earn the seven seed and face the Rockets in the first round. If they lost that game they would face the winner of the Sacramento Kings vs Dallas Mavericks game in Denver for a winner takes all game for the eighth and final seed of the playoffs. The winner of that game would face the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round and the loser would be the last team eliminated from playoff competition.

The Matchup

Injury report: Jamal Murray – probable (hamstring), DaRon Holmes II – out (achilles); Jae’Sean Tate – out (ankle), every normal rotation player on Houston’s roster – out (why risk it when your seed is already locked in).

The Rules

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