Essential Week: Nuggets and Rockets Battle for Playoff Positioning

Earlier than the Nuggets confronted the Rockets a month in the past in Houston, first-year head coach David Adelman tried to drive dwelling the significance of the event to his gamers by widening the lens.

“It is a likelihood to go up 1-0 in a three-game sequence,” he remembers telling them. “It is a large sport.”

Behind his thoughts, a separate prepare of thought was interrupting.

“Effectively,” he thought, “except we don’t make the Cup. Or possibly we’ll play them (once more) within the Cup.”

One yr in the past, Denver’s unique regular-season schedule included three conferences with the Clippers. The Nuggets misplaced the primary two in November, rapidly clinching the season sequence for Los Angeles. However when each groups have been among the many 22 eradicated from the NBA Cup in its group stage, a fourth head-to-head matchup was added.

The league’s solely option to account for unknowable variables within the in-season event — who makes the quarterfinals and who doesn’t — is to create a schedule with about 10 open days inbuilt. Everybody performs two regular-season video games throughout that December stretch yearly, however the specifics are determined at random, on the final minute. These two video games is perhaps NBA Cup knockout stage showdowns, or they is perhaps “substitute video games” towards different eradicated groups.

The luck of the draw labored out for Denver in 2024. The season sequence ended 2-2. Each groups completed 50-32 in a fourth-place tie, establishing a first-round playoff sequence between them. However the head-to-head tiebreaker had been taken away from the Clippers. Sport 7 was performed in Denver as a substitute of Los Angeles, thanks partially to the randomness.

That’s the place the Clippers’ season ended.

This time, the luck of the draw may give Houston further life. Monday’s sport between the Nuggets and Rockets wasn’t on the unique schedule, however it now serves as a fourth assembly between the 2 Western Convention powers, who’re inside a sport of one another for second place. One head-to-head win is not sufficient to clinch a possible tiebreaker for Denver (18-6).

“It’s good for them, let’s simply put it that means,” Adelman stated. “For me, you’ll be able to’t management it. It’s what it’s. On the flip aspect, we bought Sacramento after they’re actually beat up. So you’ll be able to have a look at it two other ways. This complete (NBA Cup) factor, we’re simply all attempting to get used to it. It’s so completely different than it was. You simply tackle the video games they offer you.”

That is the third yr of the NBA Cup’s existence, which launched new peculiarities to the league calendar. Most of December has been a lull for the Nuggets. They’ve performed as soon as within the final seven days getting into this rematch with Houston — a 31-point rout of Sacramento of their different substitute sport. As famous by Adelman, the Kings have been lacking stars Domantas Sabonis and Zach LaVine.

Out of that lull arrives a pivotal week, with Kevin Durant and the Rockets visiting twice. They pose just a few particular challenges that distinguish them from most groups within the league.

They prefer to play large, with two facilities (Alperen Sengun and Steven Adams) and two 6-foot-11 forwards (Durant and Jabari Smith) within the beginning lineup.

They play a variety of zone protection, like Denver.

They usually pulverize their opponents on the offensive glass, the principle supply of their 121.4 offensive score, which ranks third within the league.

“I’d say the offensive rebounding is essentially the most regarding factor,” Adelman stated. “Typically what Durant does, you’ll be able to’t management. Clearly, we will deliver second our bodies to him. … However I feel it’s the additional possessions, as a result of it shortens the sport. And that’s how they wish to play. It’s nearly like enjoying soccer, you probably have an excellent working sport, you will have the ball the entire sport. That’s how they play.”

The Nuggets neutralized the “run sport” for the primary quarter after they visited Texas in November. However all through the night time, Houston’s measurement and crashing steadily made them bleed out on the glass. It wasn’t fairly sufficient to value them in a gritty 112-109 win, however the margin in second-chance factors nonetheless ended up being 22-9.

The Rockets tried 17 extra photographs than Denver.

They’re 10-3 this season after they take greater than their opponent.