The Houston Rockets have already earned the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference heading into the last game of the regular season.
Their opponent, though, is still fighting for their postseason future.
The Denver Nuggets visit Houston on Sunday with a chance to secure homecourt advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Denver (49-32) is in fourth place in the tight West standings, and a loss could mean dropping to the play-in tournament this week.
A win, however, and the Nuggets are staying home for the first two games of the playoffs, capping a week of upheaval for the franchise.
Denver fired coach Michael Malone and general manager Calvin Booth on Tuesday while naming David Adelman as interim coach. He has led the Nuggets to two straight wins, but recording a third is the only goal. Beyond that, Denver will let the first-round matchups fall into place.
“The records are so close,” Adelman said. “I have no idea who’s going to win Sunday. Playing at the same time, all that kind of stuff. … I don’t think you can dictate your matchup and all that right now. It’s just so crazy with the records.”
Adelman has an advantage no other team possesses — Nikola Jokic. The three-time MVP became the third player in NBA history and the first center to average a triple-double for a season after his 26-point, 16-rebound, 13-assist performance against the Grizzlies on Friday.
He is also going to be the first player in NBA history to finish in the top three leaguewide in those categories.
The Nuggets got help Friday with Jamal Murray returning after missing six games with a sprained right ankle to score 15 points.
Denver doesn’t know which Rockets lineup it will face Sunday afternoon. Houston has dropped two straight since clinching the No. 2 seed last week and has focused on resting players down the stretch. Alperen Sengun, Amen Thompson, Dillon Brooks, Fred VanVleet, Tari Eason and Jabari Smith Jr. didn’t play Friday night at the Los Angeles Lakers.
Los Angeles won in a rout, 140-109, to secure the No. 3 seed, which would set up a second-round matchup with the Rockets should both teams advance out of the first round.
Houston has completed an impressive turnaround in two years under coach Ime Udoka. The Rockets won 22 games in 2022-23 and were .500 last year before improving by 11 games this season.
“I think last year was building a foundation to be competitive on a nightly basis and change the perception of teams that were coming into play us,” Udoka told SI.com recently. “I think we did that pretty easily, beat a lot of really good teams and got to .500. But this year was more about, the foundation had already been laid.”
Udoka played leading scorer Jalen Green (21.2 points) on Friday night, so the coach might opt to sit him against the Nuggets. Udoka may also let his other top players rest again, meaning Denver would face a less-imposing lineup to determine its postseason fate.
