Nuggets lock No. 3 seed
The Denver Nuggets clinched the Western Conference No. 3 seed down the stretch, a result that pushed the Los Angeles Lakers into the No. 4 slot on the final day of the regular season. (Yahoo Sports reported Denver’s decisive win clinched No. 3, and CBS Sports confirmed the seed shifts.) (sports.yahoo.com) (cbssports.com)
Denver beat San Antonio 128-118 on Sunday night to lock up the Western Conference’s No. 3 seed, and Los Angeles finished No. 4. (sports.yahoo.com) The final bracket now has Denver at 54-28 facing the No. 6 Minnesota Timberwolves, while the Lakers at 53-29 draw the No. 5 Houston Rockets in the first round. (nba.com) Denver entered the last day needing either a win over the Spurs or a Lakers loss to Utah to stay ahead, and it got the cleaner route by winning outright. (usatoday.com) Nikola Jokic scored 23 first-half points in his 65th game of the season, a threshold tied to National Basketball Association awards eligibility, as Denver closed out the regular season with its seed secured on the floor. (apnews.com) The shuffle changed the middle of the West bracket on the season’s final night. San Antonio stayed No. 2, Oklahoma City held No. 1, and the Nuggets avoided dropping into the Lakers’ side of the first round. (cbssports.com) That mattered in a conference where the top six were separated by small margins for most of April, with Denver and Los Angeles still trading possible No. 3 and No. 4 outcomes entering Sunday. (sports.yahoo.com) The Lakers had already clinched a top-four finish, but losing the No. 3 path means they open against Houston instead of waiting for the play-in to finalize the No. 6 slot. (sports.yahoo.com) The postseason starts with the play-in tournament from April 14 through April 17, and the first round begins April 18. Denver’s late push gave it home court for at least one series and settled the West’s last top-four question before the games even tipped off this week. (nba.com)
