Oddsmakers think that the Nuggets could easily slide down in the Western Conference Standings
Apr 7, 2025, 10:26 AM | Updated: 10:33 am
The Denver Nuggets have hit a rough patch in the absolute worst time of the season, as the team’s four-game losing streak has them in danger of losing home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs, and could possibly send them to the Play-In Tournament for the first time.
With just days left in the NBA regular season, the Nuggets have to find their identity and try to gain some sort of momentum before the postseason begins. However, with the defensive woes, Jamal Murray’s hamstring and tensions rising between players, the near future doesn’t look as bright as it did just a couple weeks ago.
Uhhh what just happened here between Aaron Gordon and Peyton Watson? pic.twitter.com/Cl1IbhQAAj
— Jake Shapiro (@Shapalicious) April 7, 2025
Despite the recent troubles, Vegas still has Denver as a top-four team in the Western Conference come playoff time. Among all teams to make the Western Conference Finals, Denver has the fourth-best odds (+330). The Nuggets’ odds to win the Western Conference are also the fourth-best (+950), while their odds to win a second NBA Championship are the sixth-best in the entire league (+2,500).
However, the opposite side of the spectrum is not a sight that Nuggets fans want to see. The team currently has the second-highest odds to be in the Play-In Tournament (-110). While the Kings and the Mavericks are essentially locked into the Play-In (unless Phoenix pulls out some magic down the stretch), two teams in the midst of the gridlock in the middle of the standings will find themselves in the tournament as well.
Even worse news for the Nuggets, they only hold one tiebreaker over the other five teams in the gridlock.
Every H2H tiebreaker scenario:
(If TEAM column has an opponent in the YES column, TEAM holds the tiebreaker over them.) pic.twitter.com/gp3YsVWdWd
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) April 7, 2025
The Nuggets blew their chances against the Timberwolves and the Lakers by losing and tying the respective season series against those two rivals. Their implausible win over the Golden State Warriors back in March with no Nikola Jokic or Jamal Murray secured that tiebreaker for them. They are in a good spot to win the tiebreaker over the Clippers, but the scenario with Memphis is the most important one.
Denver has one more game left at Ball Arena in the regular season when the Grizzlies come to town on Friday night. That game could decide the outcome for Denver in the postseason, win or lose, and could even send them to the Play-In. With Jamal Murray’s status up in the air for the future after Michael Malone’s comments on Sunday, things could continue to get worse for the Nuggets if they can’t pull out a win against Memphis.
The two teams haven’t faced off since a back-to-back in November, so both sides look much different than they did in the first two matchups. The Grizzlies fired their head coach while the Nuggets have fallen off a cliff defensively. The two teams that were once No. 2 and No. 3 in the Western Conference are both sliding fast towards the Play-In.
The Nuggets take on the Kings on Wednesday, followed by Memphis on Friday and Houston on Sunday to close the season.
