Nuggets game day: Denver eliminating "pressure" from playoff push

DENVER — The pressures of a playoff push in the closing stretch of a regular season can weigh heavy on a young team that’s lacking in veterans who earn playing time. Dealing with that pressure was ultimately one of the Denver Nuggets’ downfalls in their failed bid for the postseason in 2017, as Nikola Jokic alluded to after last season.

“I think the playoff (expectations) were too much pressure for us,” he said. “… Against Portland that was the most nervous game I’ve ever seen. We couldn’t make shots. Everybody was nervous.”

The Nuggets’ loss in Portland on March 28 last year crushed Denver’s playoff hopes. The Nuggets were officially eliminated from the postseason 11 days later when Russell Westbrook set the NBA record for triple-doubles in a season, scored 50 points and stuck a 36-foot dagger in Denver’s throat to win in overtime all in the same night. This time around, the Nuggets aren’t planning to let those same pressure set in.

“We’re not playing with pressure,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said “… We can’t play like it’s life and death because we’re going to die a lot. The way we play, how free we play, we’re going to turn the ball over a ton, we’re going to make mistakes, we’re young. I want our guys to play free, to enjoy and embrace the moment and what we’re involved in right now. I think a lot of other teams are playing tight with pressure on them. Not us.”

With their backs against the wall and their playoff hopes quickly fading in a jumbled Western Conference, the Nuggets reeled off three-straight wins over three projected playoff teams. Denver wrapped up its season-long seven game road trip with a win in Oklahoma City and returned home to beat Milwaukee and Indiana in a span of 48 hours.

Two of those wins (Thunder and Bucks) came in overtime. The Nuggets’ win over the Pacers was a closely contested contest until the final buzzer. While its offense has occasionally slowed to a halt towards the end of games this season, Denver shot 47.5 percent from the field — seventh-highest in the league — over its last three fourth quarters.

Will Barton had a team-high eight points in the fourth quarter of Denver’s 107-104 win over Indiana.

“There’s no point in playing with pressure,” Barton said. “We’ve got a good team. When you have a good team you all trust each other. We all know we’ve got a lot of guys that can make plays.”

With their season on the line, the Nuggets will look to bring their pressure-free mindset into Thursday’s nationally televised matchup with the Minnesota Timberwolves (8:30 p.m. TNT). Denver (43-35) is a game behind Minnesota (44-34) for the West’s final playoff spot and trail 0-2 in the head-to-head tiebreaker. Denver has tonight’s matchup as well as a meeting on the final day of the regular season to even things up in case the two teams boast the same record after 82 games.

If the two teams finish with identical records and tie in the head-to-head, the next tiebreaker is division record. Currently, Minnesota is 9-5 in the Northwest Division. The Nuggets are just 7-6 in division but have matchups against the Timberwolves (twice) and Trail Blazers remaining.

“What a great feeling with four games to go knowing you control your destiny,” Malone said.

Minnesota is coming off a 121-97 loss at home to the Utah Jazz on Tuesday. Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns led the Timberwolves with 23 and 20 points respectively. Minnesota shot just 42.2 percent from the field against Utah and over its last five games are converting only 43.6 of its field goal attempts — the eighth-worst mark in the league over that span. The Timberwolves haven’t played since Sunday.

Minnesota was without Jimmy Butler for a 16th-straight game, and while Butler is reportedly “this close” to returning to the Timberwolves lineup, he’s not expected to play. Point guard Jeff Teague is listed as questionable after missing Minnesota’s loss to Utah. Nuggets shooting guard Gary Harris will miss his 10th consecutive game with a right knee sprain/strain. Denver hopes Harris can return to the lineup Saturday against the Clippers.

Someone who hasn’t had issues shooting the ball lately is Nuggets’ star center Nikola Jokic. Jokic hit four of Denver’s 10 threes against the Pacers and is shooting 32-63 (50 percent) from distance in his last 14 games. Jokic’s stat line over that stretch is All-NBA worthy: 24.5 points on 56.4 percent shooting, 10.9 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game.

“I feel really good,” Jokic said about his three-point shot. ” And I’m going to step into the shots so I’m just taking more than usual I can say.”

He’ll square up with Towns, a first-time All-Star selection who’s also looking to lead his team to the postseason.

“Thursday’s the biggest game,” Malone said. “Because it’s the next game.”

Nuggets Projected Starters

Jamal Murray, Will Barton, Wilson Chandler, Paul Millsap, Nikola Jokic

Timberwolves Projected Starters

Jeff Teague, Andrew Wiggins, Nemanja Bjelica, Taj Gibson, Karl-Anthony Towns