The West got a little wilder on Friday night. With the Denver Nuggets’ 121-120 loss to the San Antonio Spurs, coupled with wins by the Oklahoma City Thunder and Minnesota Timberwolves, there is now a three-way tie atop the Western Conference heading into the final day of the NBA regular season.
On Wednesday, the Nuggets defeated the Timberwolves and took a one-game lead on Minnesota and Oklahoma City, making the reigning NBA champions the favorites to land the No. 1 seed in the West playoffs.
But after Spurs guard Devonte’ Graham’s 5-foot runner in the lane went in over Nuggets guard Jamal Murray with 0.9 seconds remaining, everything changed. The Spurs forced a 5-second count on the ensuing inbounds play to seal the victory.
“It’s disappointing. I mean, really disappointing,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “We controlled our own destiny, and what we accomplished on Wednesday night, we just gave it right back, you know what I mean?”
San Antonio Spurs Team (Via NBA/Twitter)
On Sunday, the Nuggets play the Grizzlies in Memphis, while the Thunder host the Dallas Mavericks, and the Timberwolves host the Phoenix Suns.
For Denver, the only way to regain the top seed is if both Oklahoma City and Minnesota lose Sunday.
“It’s easy to get up from Minnesota,” Malone said. “I mean, our guys were locked in, they were focused, they were serious. And I don’t think we had the same approach for tonight’s game. You had a chance to get the 1-seed and now obviously we’ll likely be the 3-seed.
End of the day, no matter what seed we are, we know what we’re capable of. And we got one more game. Let’s try to finish it up right in Memphis and prepare for the first round.”
Oklahoma City Thunder (Via NBA/Twitter)
This marks the first time in NBA history that three teams through 81 games have the same record and a chance to capture the No. 1 seed in their respective conference.
Denver led San Antonio by as many as 23 points before the Spurs stormed back. Not only was it San Antonio’s largest comeback of the season, but it also was the Nuggets’ largest collapse of 2023-24. It tied the second-largest blown lead for Denver in the past 25 seasons.
In Oklahoma City, Thunder coach Mark Daigneault learned of the Nuggets’ loss as he was walking off the Paycom Center court following his team’s 125-107 win over the Milwaukee Bucks. Matt Tumbleson, the Thunder’s vice president of basketball communications, informed Daigneault of the upset and delivered a warning.
“He said, ‘This is all [the media] is going to want to talk about,’ and you guys are really delivering on that,” Daigneault said in deadpan fashion. “I don’t really have much of a reaction. We’ve got to run through the finish line.”
