Nuggets' playoff hopes on life support after ugly loss in Memphis

The Denver Nuggets had an excellent opportunity to start off a seven-game road trip on the right note. Denver rolled into Memphis on Saturday to face the Grizzlies, a tanking team that’d lost 19 games in a row.

The Nuggets needed to take care of business against one of the NBA’s worst teams. Instead, it suffered another crippling setback in its quest to snap a four-season playoff drought.

The Nuggets fell behind by 21 points in the first half, and although they battled back, that deficit proved too difficult to overcome as Denver fell 101-94.

Denver was without Gary Harris, who suffered a right knee sprain against the Pistons on Thursday. It could’ve used its most consistent player as it shot just 36.8 percent from the floor.

Offensively, the Nuggets looked stagnant. Jamal Murray shot 5-18 from the floor. Nikola Jokic scored 17 points, but he needed 15 shots to get there. Paul Millsap (3-9 FG, 12 points) had a quiet game. Will Barton (3-12 FG, four turnovers) was a minus-15 in 35 minutes.

Dillon Brooks led the way for Memphis. He hit 4-9 threes and finished with 24 points. The Grizzlies shot 40.7 percent from the floor but still managed to pull out the win anyway.

Coming into Saturday’s game, the Grizzlies last win came Jan. 29. They failed to win a single game in the month of February and were on that same trajectory in March — until they beat Denver.

The Nuggets’ playoff hopes are on life support now. FiveThirtyEight is giving them a 24 percent chance to qualify for the postseason. They fell to 38-32 with the loss. The second leg of their seven-game road trip is Monday in Miami.