No. 3: The Denver Nuggets
Schedule Score: 1.5
Right, so as eagle-eyed viewers might have figured out, these last three teams are the top teams in the Western Conference. I’ll go into the metric side of things in the last slide, but I’ll touch on the league side here, as this is the best example.
The Nuggets are a top team, which means they’ve picked up a lot of wins. That part isn’t exactly rocket science. However, what you can also take away from that is that the Nuggets, and the other top teams in the league, have a lot of wins against opponents in the bubble. This holds true for Denver, who only have a losing record against the Lakers.
Denver has made a nice turn around in recent years, going from just barely missing the playoffs in 2018 to being a top seed this year, and they’re going to be a tough team to beat. But, like with the Bucks, Denver may also choose to rest some of their top stars to preserve them for the postseason. It’s unlikely this will result in a lot of loses for the Nuggets, but it may mean a few key victories for their opponents much lower in the standings, where every win matters.