The last 48 hours of developments in the Nuggets’ chase for the eight seed in the Western Conference have made winning every game the remainder season a must.
Portland’s win over Minnesota on Thursday night, a day after the Nuggets loss at Houston, gave the Blazers a 1 ½ game lead over the Nuggets for the spot. That means Portland’s magic number to clinch the final playoff seed is two; any combination of two Portland wins and Nuggets losses will do it.
Until then, the Nuggets forge on.
Friday night, that means facing New Orleans for the third time in the last two weeks.