The Denver Nuggets are in danger of missing the playoffs, an outcome head coach Michael Malone would rather not experience.
To their credit, neither do the Nuggets.
Before the season, the team set a goal that it would make the playoffs. Although they sit 10th in the Western Conference standings right now at 37-31, they are only one game behind the eighth-place Utah Jazz (38-30).
Malone said recently that the Nuggets missing the playoffs would be a “huge disappointment,” per Harrison Wind of BSN Network.
More Malone on playoff expectations: "There's no desperation here. There's definitely hopes. We all want it. It was a goal of ours so it would be a huge dissapointment if we did not make the playoffs….Story posting shortly.
— Harrison Wind (@HarrisonWind) March 15, 2018
The Nugget are just 5-5 in their last 10 games, and will play the Detroit Pistons tonight. The Pistons are a few games out of the eighth spot in the East, and will likely be trying to fight their back into it. The Nuggets have their work cut out for them.
The race in the West for the playoffs is remarkably tight. Just two games in the loss column separate the Nuggets from the fourth-place Oklahoma City Thunder. That's how close things are.
The Nuggets could be in bad shape, too. While they play the Memphis Grizzlies and Chicago Bulls in the next few days, they also have to face the Miami Heat, Philadelphia 76ers, Washington Wizards, Toronto Raptors and the Thunder. All those games are on the road.
It will be difficult for the Nuggets to keep their heads above water over the next two weeks, but they have a good, young team with a lot of motivation. It's possible they can get some wins no one thought they would.
But losing to the Los Angeles Lakers really hurt them, and they can no longer afford losses like that down the stretch. Beating the Pistons tonight would be a start.
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