Wednesday’s game against the Lakers is pivotal for the Nuggets’ playoff seeding
Mar 19, 2025, 2:26 PM | Updated: 2:30 pm
For the fourth and final time this season, the Denver Nuggets are taking on the Los Angeles Lakers, this time in California. The Nuggets currently lead the season series 2-1, and a victory tonight would eliminate any talks of a tiebreaker come playoff time between the two teams.
The Lakers will be without LeBron James again tonight as he recovers from a groin strain, but the previous meeting between the two sides showed that injuries don’t matter. Despite the challenges, the Nuggets were able to pull off the victory to pull ahead in the season series.
Obviously, if the Nuggets win Wednesday, they own the tiebreaker over the Lakers. If not, and the Lakers tie the series at two apiece, the next tiebreaker then becomes whichever team is winning their respective division.
As of Wednesday, the Lakers have a three game lead for first place in the Pacific Division, while the Nuggets are 12.5 games behind Oklahoma City for second place in the Northwest Division.
Not a good sign for Denver.
If the Lakers were to drop to second place in their division but still be tied with the Nuggets in the playoff race, the next tiebreaker would be conference record. The Lakers are 29-13 against the West while the Nuggets are 27-15.
Again, not a good sign for Denver.
What’s the best way to avoid these tiebreakers? Win the head-to-head matchups against the opposing team. Denver showed its ability to compete — especially on the defensive end — without Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray in Monday’s improbable win over the Golden State Warriors.
If the Nuggets win Wednesday’s clash, they would be two games ahead of the Lakers in the Western Conference. A loss would put the two teams in a tie. With the Houston Rockets (currently T2 with Denver) and the Memphis Grizzlies (currently T4 with Los Angeles) both in this gridlock for the 2-5 seeds in the West, every game is important as these teams aim to have home court advantage in the opening round of the playoffs.
For the Nuggets, they have been the No. 3 seed or higher in the Western Conference Playoffs every year except one going back to 2018-19, the first time the team made the postseason in the Jokic era. The lone year was the 2021-2022 season, when Jamal Murray missed the entire season and Michael Porter Jr. played just nine games.
Wednesday’s game tips off from Los Angeles at 8:00 p.m. MT and will be broadcast on ESPN.
