Finishing strong

“It’s one thing to have the faith to get started, but it’s another thing to have the fortitude to finish strong.”

– Kami Dempsey

Believe it or not, during the fourth quarter of the Denver Nuggets game against the Toronto Raptors on Thursday night, it was a close affair. Toronto had played tough all evening, with neither team seeing much double-digit distance throughout. And then…

Then a 25-5 run by a suddenly volcanic Nuggets bench put the game so far out of reach that the subs got subs, and MVP-to-be Nikola Jokic got to sit the quarter out with another double-double already under his belt. It was a decidedly strong finish… to the quarter, to the game, and to the month of April, in which the Nuggets finished 13-3, tying a record for most wins a month for the franchise.

That pattern can only serve them well as they enter into the last eighth of their season. It gets a little brutal from here. How brutal? With a scant nine games left in the regular season, your hometown Nuggets will spend seven of them on the road, including five of their last six. But it’s not just the lack of home cooking that will make this part particularly tough.

On Saturday, the Nuggets take a trip to Los Angeles to visit the Clippers, the squad a scant half-game ahead of them in the standings entering into the night. Denver could leapfrog the Clippers for the three-seed, possibly settling up a battle of L.A. between the Clippers and Lakers in the playoffs. If Denver could attain and keep that seeding, they could not only avoid a Lakers matchup in the first round, but also set up a knockout of one of the two anticipated big dogs. The Clippers have lost their last two contests, so will be playing pretty desperately against Denver to stop the slide.

If there’s any upside to their next contest, it’s that they won’t have to travel for their game against the Lakers. Beyond that, it would appear that both Anthony Davis and LeBron James will be back in the fold and tuning up against a Nuggets squad that has finally seen the injury bug squarely bite them as well. Denver will be one of the first teams sampling the Lakers capabilities to repeat. The Nuggets will surely have a good opportunity to use the game as a measuring stick of their own.

From there, Denver will cash in one of their last two home games against the suddenly-resurgent New York Knicks. While Denver should win the game, the Knicks are no longer to be taken lightly. Currently fourth in the Eastern Conference standings, Julius Randle has been a revelation for the Big Apple, winners of ten of their last 11 games. The Nuggets will have to play their best ball to notch a win.

That’s got to be as bad as it gets, right? Oh… No. Nononono.

Two nights later, Denver will travel to West-leading Utah for a game that could have implications in the division as well, depending on how they both come into the game. Utah will have something to prove, as Denver has shown they can beat them, so expect both squads to come out already in playoff mode.

Denver hits the road for the first of two back-to-backs still left in the season, against the East-leading Brooklyn Nets, who have most of their pieces back in the fold as well, seeking to continue their own tuneup. It will be fascinating to watch a homegrown Nuggets team battle the bolted-together beast that is the Nets roster. Brooklyn has so many recognizable names on their roster, their rotations are akin to the Avengers return.

From there, the Nuggets see their last two-day break of the season heading off to Charlotte to play the Hornets. Charlotte is still fighting for the bottom playoff spots in the East, so will be fighting hard to stay in the thick of things. Denver then heads to Minnesota for an always hard-fought game in their division. They get right back on the plane for the second half of a back-to-back against the Detroit Pistons. With the buzzsaw Denver will have fought through to get past Brooklyn, the Charlotte-Minny-Motown three games in four nights will prove to be a real test of the team’s focus and resolve wrapping up the year.

Denver stays on the road to wrap up the season, for the somehow always-important game against division foe Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers. Both teams could well still be fighting for playoff positioning in the moment, including the possibility they could see each other in the first round if things played out right.

Nothing easy from here, Nuggets Nation. A real odyssey of hoops, both to jump through, and hit. Take heart in the fact that strong finishes have proven to be a strength that they only keep building upon. By the time they hit the playoffs, Denver will be battle-tested, no matter who they’re about to face.