The Golden State Warriors are in a position right now where they have to play every game like it's their last, but other Western Conference rivals find themselves in a far more luxurious position.
After a stunning double overtime loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday, Mike Malone and the Denver Nuggets made the decision to rest all five starters for Wednesday's game against the San Antonio Spurs at Ball Arena.
Despite the Spurs missing their own stars in Victor Wembanyama and De'Aaron Fox, and not necessarily caring about winning at this closing point of the season, their depth proved too much for the short-handed Nuggets in a 113-106 road victory.
Former Warrior Dario Saric even saw some limited first-half minutes for the first time since February, while Russell Westbrook's 30 points and 11 assists wasn't enough for the Nuggets after his late-game meltdown on Tuesday.
The Nuggets made their resting decision with an eye to the Warriors
Denver essentially tanked a game they would have otherwise won to ensure they're fully prepared for their next game against the Warriors at Chase Center on Friday. Perhaps that proves a wise decision, particularly after 3x MVP Nikola Jokic played nearly 53 minutes on Tuesday in which he had a monstrous 61-point triple-double in a losing effort.
However, it does also leave the door ajar for some even bigger movement in the standings over the final 10 days of the season. The Nuggets have essentially forfeited any chance of reaching the Houston Rockets in the two-seed, having now fallen to fourth behind the Los Angeles Lakers after their 30th loss of the season.
We're reaching a crazy point of the season where every result has staggering implications. All of a sudden and seemingly out of nowhere, the Warriors have only one less loss than the Nuggets with seven games remaining.
If Golden State's upcoming back-to-back didn't already mean enough, Denver's decision to rest all their guys on Wednesday just dramatically increased the stakes. It doesn't feel that long ago (the end of January) that the Warriors were the 11th-seed, but two wins against the Los Angeles Lakers and Nuggets and they could have a stunning but realistic look at the three-seed.
Yet if the Warriors lose even one of those games, they could find themselves back involved in the Play-In Tournament. There is now just three losses between the third-seed Lakers and the eight-seed L.A. Clippers, making for a fascinating conclusion to a regular season that's changing on a daily basis.