For the third time in the last five years, the Nuggets and Lakers are getting together for a playoff series.

Only this time, it’s not a trip to the NBA Finals on the line (at least not immediately). Denver and Los Angeles are renewing their definitely-not-a-rivalry in the first round of the 2024 Western Conference playoffs after the Nuggets (57-25) finished the regular season as the No. 2 seed and the Lakers (47-35) climbed to No. 7 by beating New Orleans in the Play-In Tournament.

LeBron James, Anthony Davis and the Lakers prevailed in the 2020 Western Conference Finals. Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and the Nuggets got their revenge in 2023.

The rubber match series is set to begin Saturday (6:30 p.m. MT, ABC), with Game 1 at Ball Arena in downtown Denver. Here is the full television schedule for the best-of-seven series.

Nuggets vs. Lakers Game 1: Saturday, April 20

6:30 p.m. MT, ABC

Ball Arena, Denver

Game 2: Monday, April 22

8 p.m. MT, TNT

Ball Arena, Denver

Game 3: Thursday, April 25

8 p.m. MT, TNT

Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles

Game 4: Saturday, April 27

6:30 p.m. MT, ABC

Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles

Game 5 (if necessary): Monday, April 29

Time, TV channel TBD

Ball Arena, Denver

Game 6 (if necessary): Thursday, May 2

Time, TV channel TBD

Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles

Game 7 (if necessary): Saturday, May 4

Time, TV channel TBD

Ball Arena, Denver

Want more Nuggets news? Sign up for the Nuggets Insider to get all our NBA analysis.

If the Nuggets really want the title of “Lakers’ Daddy,” they’ll have the chance to earn it with an earlier-than-expected rematch.

Less than a year after their Western Conference Finals sweep, the Nuggets will face the Lakers in the first round of the 2024 playoffs, tipping off Saturday at Ball Arena with Game 1. Denver (57-25) enters the series having won eight consecutive head-to-head matchups against Los Angeles.

The Lakers (47-35) finished the regular season in eighth place and defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 110-106 in the Play-In Tournament on Tuesday to earn the matchup. Pelicans star Zion Williamson scored 40 points but mysteriously disappeared to the locker room with an apparent injury after scoring a game-tying floater with 3:19 remaining.

LeBron James led the Lakers with 23 points on 6-of-20 shooting. Anthony Davis added 20 points and 15 rebounds. D’Angelo Russell, who shot a career-high 41.5% from 3-point range this season, scored 21, including a critical corner three that gave Los Angeles a four-point lead with a minute to go.

In the 2023-24 regular season, presumptive MVP Nikola Jokic averaged 29.3 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists in three games against the Lakers. Jamal Murray averaged 24.7 points, five rebounds and 9.3 assists in the matchup. The Nuggets point guard seems more likely to thrive in this matchup than he might have against New Orleans’ scrappy wing defenders; he was a 32.5 point-per-game scorer in the four-game series last spring, while Jokic averaged a triple-double against Anthony Davis.

All three regular-season clashes involved a ceremony, by sheer scheduling serendipity. In the NBA season opener, the Nuggets won after receiving their 2023 championship rings and raising the title banner. The two games in Los Angeles coincided with the unveiling of a Kobe Bryant statue and the celebration of James’ 40,000th career point, which he scored by driving past Michael Porter Jr.

Want more Nuggets news? Sign up for the Nuggets Insider to get all our NBA analysis.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The Nuggets are playing all five regular starters in their regular-season finale Sunday against the Grizzlies despite the possibility that a win wouldn’t benefit their seeding.

“We’re trying to win a game,” coach Michael Malone said in his pregame news conference. “We’ve got everybody healthy, so I think everybody is good to go.”

The Nuggets (56-25) need a win combined with Minnesota and Oklahoma City losses to climb back to the No. 1 seed in the West after their blown lead Friday in San Antonio. But they can at least move up one position to the No. 2 seed if they win and Minnesota loses to the Phoenix Suns. Based on one answer in his pregame presser, Malone showed an understanding that Oklahoma City is unlikely to lose its game against an intentionally undermanned Mavericks squad.

“If we’re able to win and OKC wins and Minnesota wins, we know we’re third,” Malone said. “We’re gonna know who we’re playing, which is different than last year. We didn’t know until Friday night who we were playing. So now on one hand if you finish third which is a likely outcome, then turn the page, and my attention’s gonna go to who are we playing? Is it New Orleans or is it Phoenix? If we win and Minnesota loses and OKC wins, we know we’re two. And now you have to wait until Tuesday night to figure out who you’re playing.”

Entering this 82nd game, the Nuggets also had the ability to manipulate the Western Conference bracket to their liking without moving seeds themselves. If Oklahoma City, Minnesota and Denver all won, Minnesota would be the No. 2 seed, on the same side of the bracket as Denver. But if Oklahoma City and Minnesota won but Denver lost, the No. 2 seed would switch to Oklahoma City — giving the Nuggets a certain degree of power to decide who their potential second-round opponent is.

Malone squashed that type of thinking by pointing out how talented the West is from top to bottom.

“I go back to when I was in New Orleans and we were getting ready to play in the playoffs, and going into the last game, we could have controlled our destiny: Alright, do we play the Lakers in the first round, or do we play San Antonio? I remember talking with (then-New Orleans head coach) Monty Williams about it, and I really loved his answer, and I kind of agree with it. You can get into that, but now you start messing with the game. The basketball gods are finicky gods.”

Want more Nuggets news? Sign up for the Nuggets Insider to get all our NBA analysis.

SAN ANTONIO — At first, you would have thought it was a Game 7. Multiple players held their heads in their hands, eyes closed, silent. Others mumbled the “c-word” to themselves.

The Nuggets choked.

And a locker room that’s usually spirited after wins and level-headed after losses suddenly looked and sounded as bereft as it’s been since the 2023 championship.

Eventually, teammates started working together to comprehend the seeding ramifications. They slowly lifted their heads, got back on their feet. They went to shower off all the wasted sweat.

“Other than the disappointment of dropping this one,” Reggie Jackson said, “there’s not much to say.”

Like the rest of the NBA, the Nuggets were in disbelief after their worst loss of the year. Their most consequential loss in multiple years, potentially.

With 8:16 remaining in the third quarter Friday night, they took an 81-60 lead over the team with the worst record in the Western Conference. Minnesota was in the rearview mirror after Denver’s cathartic head-to-head win two days earlier. The No. 1 seed was in sight. “I feel like we felt like we were gonna win no matter what, and there was no possible way that we could lose this game,” Peyton Watson said in hindsight. “Which I don’t understand.”

He was still trying to understand what happened next. San Antonio scored on eight consecutive possessions, a rally ignited by super-rookie Victor Wembanyama and inspired by nothing more than end-of-year morale. In the last 20 minutes and change of regulation, the Spurs averaged 1.525 points per possession. They scored on 26 of their final 40 possessions (excluding a full-court heave to end the third) and 12 of their last 16 after Denver rebuilt a 12-point lead in the fourth. They doubled their score in those 20 minutes.

That final push, the comeback within the comeback, coincided with Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray checking back into the game.

“We controlled our own destiny, and what we accomplished on Wednesday night, we just gave it right back,” coach Michael Malone said. “It was easy to get up for Minnesota. Our guys were locked in. They were focused. They were serious. I don’t think we had the same approach to tonight’s game.”

Seven of San Antonio’s last nine points — including the knockout blow with 0.9 seconds remaining— were scored by a reserve who went 52 consecutive games without playing double-digit minutes at one point this season. Devonte’ Graham has appeared in 22 games and started none. He’s shooting 34% from the field and had made 30 total shots on the season entering Friday’s game, half of them in the last two weeks. He made two shots in the last 30 seconds against Denver to complete the turnaround, sandwiching an open jumper that the presumptive third-time MVP winner failed to convert. “It’s something that I need to make,” Jokic told The Post. “I missed.”

It’s not an irredeemable loss. It didn’t cost the Nuggets their season. They get to keep playing after Sunday. They still get to open the playoffs at Ball Arena.

Here’s what it could cost them: Up to two rounds of home-court advantage.

Last year, the Nuggets took advantage of their superior seeding in all four rounds, winning 10 of 11 home games. This season, the Nuggets finished 33-8 at home. They’re 23-17 on the road going into their finale at Memphis. They’re now third in the pecking order of a three-way tie with Oklahoma City and Minnesota. The only route to the top seed is a bounce-back win combined with the Thunder and Timberwolves both losing Sunday. Malone has to consider whether the risk of playing his starters outweighs the unlikely reward. Jokic and Aaron Gordon both told The Denver Post they’ll leave it up to the coaching staff whether they suit up against the Grizzlies.

Denver is likely to land on the opposite side of the Western Conference bracket as a result of this loss. Whether that’s a punishment or a prize is in the eye of the beholder. The path to the NBA Finals is now most probable to start with Phoenix or New Orleans (3-3 combined vs. Denver this season), rather than the Lakers or Warriors (0-7). Instead of facing only one of Minnesota or Oklahoma City as the No. 1 seed, the Nuggets might have to play a road series against both.

“It’s a huge blow,” Watson said. “We’ve talked about it all year, that we have one of the best home courts in the league. That’s futile now.”

On the other hand, Clippers vs. Mavericks is a brutal 4-5 series. One of those teams will be a frightening second-round opponent for the top seed.

“The path is gonna be tough no matter which way you cut it,” Christian Braun told The Post. “There’s still a chance to have home-court (past the first round). We’ve just gotta understand it was gonna be tough either way. We made it a little tougher on ourselves. But we can bounce back from that. We’re still gonna win the championship.”

By this time, Braun had made it through all the necessary stages of grief. He was making a good point. Perhaps nobody else on Denver’s roster watches more NBA basketball in their free time than Braun. Speculating about opponents in a Western Conference this deep, he reasoned, might be a waste of time.

It’s the apparent loss of home-court advantage that stings much more than the potential path through the West.

“We had a chance to get the 1-seed,” Malone said. “And now, obviously, we’ll likely be the 3-seed.”

But was there any other playoff relevance to this cataclysmic loss? Some way the Nuggets can harness the power of a low point and re-appropriate it as motivation? Some lessons they can learn from it?

“I think we’ve got an experienced team,” Watson said. “I don’t think we learned anything from this game, honestly. I think we’ve already learned that we can’t do that. We’re past the point of learning that just now. … I feel like this is stuff we should have learned already.”

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Tiger Woods had his worst opening nine ever at Augusta National on Saturday, shooting his way right out of contention after the five-time champion had overcome brutal winds the previous day to make the cut for a record 24th consecutive time.

Woods began his day 1 over and seven shots off the lead, a big gap but one he thought could still be overcome. But after playing the first five holes of his third round in even-par, Woods began to melt down off the tee and on the greens.

Woods missed a 5-footer for par at the sixth. He dumped a wedge into the bunker and doubled the seventh. He drove it into the trees on No. 8, had to punch out and wound up doubling one of the easiest holes on the course. And by the time Woods missed another par putt at the ninth, he was left with a first-nine 42 that was two more than his previous worst.

Woods shot 40 in 1997, when he went on to win his first green jacket by 12 shots, and again in 2004, when he tied for 22nd.

Woods had to play 23 holes on Friday after darkness brought an early end to his opening round. Yet he not only persevered through a marathon day, Woods shot a second-round 72 amid such blustery conditions that the average score was 75.09, the highest for the second round of the Masters since 2007, when it was not only windy but also cold.

Woods had driven the ball well, hitting 22 of 28 fairways, and he had offset some poor approach shots — just 17 of 36 greens in regulation through two rounds — with an excellent short game. Woods began the day in the top 10 in putting this week.

What had been his strength this week — off the tee and on the greens — was his downfall on Saturday.

Now, his 100th round at the Masters on Sunday looked as if it would be an early stroll through the Georgia pines before Scottie Scheffler, Bryson DeChambeau and the rest of the leaders decided who would slip into the green jacket later in the day.

“I’ve been able to play here since I was 19-years old,” Woods said Friday night. “It’s one of the honors I don’t take lightly, being able to compete. The years I have missed, I wish I was able to play because there’s such an aura and mystique about playing this golf course that I don’t think that — unless you have played and competed here, you probably don’t really appreciate.”

___

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

Want more sports news? Sign up for the Sports Omelette to get all our analysis on Denver’s teams.

By DAVE SKRETTA (AP Sports Writer)

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Tiger Woods shot his worst round in a major championship in the third round of the Masters on Saturday, finding far too many trees off the tee and making far too many three-putts on the greens for a 10-over 82 at Augusta National.

Woods started the day 1 over and seven shots off the lead. But after eight bogeys and two double-bogeys, offset by just a pair of birdies, the 48-year-old five-time champion was left facing an early tee time for his 100th round in the Masters on Sunday.

It was just the fifth round that Woods has shot in the 80s as a professional, and only the third in a major. He had an 80 in the first round of the 2005 U.S. Open and Chambers Bay and an 81 in the third round of the 2002 British Open at Muirfield.

His worst round at Augusta National had been back-to-back 78s in 2022, the last time he played the full weekend, while his worst round as a pro came in 2015, when he shot an 85 in the third round of the Memorial.

Woods had to play 23 holes on Friday after darkness brought an early end to his opening round. Yet he not only persevered through a marathon day, Woods shot a second-round 72 amid such blustery conditions that the average score was 75.09, the highest for the second round of the Masters since 2007, when it was not only windy but also cold.

That allowed Woods to make the cut for a record 24th consecutive time at the Masters.

Woods had driven the ball well, hitting 22 of 28 fairways through two rounds, and he had offset some poor approach shots — just 17 of 36 greens in regulation — with an excellent short game. Woods began Saturday in the top 10 in putting this week.

What had been his strength this week — off the tee and on the greens — was his third-round downfall. He hit just four of 13 fairways and had a pair of three-putts while battling his swing over the final 13 holes.

“I’ve been able to play here since I was 19-years old,” Woods said Friday night. “It’s one of the honors I don’t take lightly, being able to compete. The years I have missed, I wish I was able to play because there’s such an aura and mystique about playing this golf course that I don’t think that — unless you have played and competed here, you probably don’t really appreciate.”

___

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

By DAVE SKRETTA (AP Sports Writer)

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Tiger Woods walked off the third green at Augusta National on Saturday, having just missed a birdie putt he thought he should have made, and began striding up the hill toward the long par-3 fourth hole at the Masters.

Little did he know things were about to get a whole lot worse.

Whatever hope Woods had of staying in contention disappeared, along with his confident swing and mastery of the greens. The five-time champion spent the rest of the day struggling to his worst round at a major championship, a 10-over 82 that left Woods looking not only defeated but will force him to play his 100th round at the Masters on Sunday well out of the spotlight.

“I didn’t have a very good warm-up session, and I kept it going all day today,” said Woods, whose worst round at the Masters had been back-to-back 78s in 2022, the last time his battered and broken body was able to play the full weekend.

Woods said he “just hit the ball in all the places that I know I shouldn’t hit it.”

He started the day 1 over and seven shots off the lead, and feeling like he was capable of making a run at Scottie Scheffler, Bryson DeChambeau and the rest of the leaders. But that was before eight bogeys and two double-bogeys, offset by just a pair of birdies, left the 48-year-old Woods at the bottom of the leaderboard rather than the top.

It was only the fifth round Woods has shot in the 80s as a professional, and only the third in a major. He shot an 80 in the first round of the 2005 U.S. Open at Chambers Bay and an 81 in the third round of the 2002 British Open at Muirfield.

His worst round as a pro came in 2015, when he shot an 85 in the third round of the Memorial.

“I haven’t competed and played much,” said Woods, who arrived this week having played just 24 holes of competitive golf this year. “When I had chances to get it flipped around and when I made that (birdie) putt at 5, I promptly three-putted 6 and flub a chip at 7 and just got it going the wrong way, and when I had opportunities to flip it, I didn’t.”

Hard to flip it playing from the trees.

After his tee shot at the seventh bounded through the fairway, Woods dumped his approach in the bunker and made double bogey. At the eighth, he drove it into the trees, punched out and made another double. And to finish off his worst first nine at the Masters, Woods again missed the fairway off the tee, again found a bunker and again walked away with a bogey.

Woods played that four-hole stretch before making the turn in 6 over.

Things didn’t get any better over the next nine.

There was a wayward tee shot at No. 11 — bogey. The missed 6-footer at the 12th — bogey. The drive into the trees at No. 14 — bogey. The chunked chip at the 15th — bogey. The three-putt at the 16th — bogey. And more tree trouble at No. 17 — bogey.

At least playing partner Tyrell Hatton could commiserate. He four-putted the final hole.

“Sure, he didn’t hit it how he wanted to,” Hatton said, “but also like, putts that he had, the greens are so fast out there. You guys, you don’t realize, even a 2 1/2-foot putt is just brutal. They’ve got so much turn. You start a centimeter outside of your start line and it’s going to miss. Then depending on the pace you’ve hit it at, who knows how far away it’s going to finish up.”

The week has been a grind for Woods, who had to play 23 holes Friday after darkness brought an early end to his opening round. Yet he not only persevered through a marathon day, he shot a second-round 72 amid such blustery conditions that the average score was 75.09, allowing him to make the cut for a record 24th consecutive time at the Masters.

Woods had driven the ball well, hitting 22 of 28 fairways through two rounds, and offset some poor approach shots — just 17 of 36 greens in regulation — with an excellent short game. He began the third round in the top 10 in putting this week.

What had been his strength, though, became his downfall Saturday. Woods hit just four of 13 fairways, had a pair of three-putts, and was left trying to get his body back in shape before an early tee time Sunday.

“My team will get me ready,” he said. “It will be a long night and a long warm-up session, but we’ll be ready.”

___

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

What pizza rats are to New York, what fountains are to Kansas City, MVPs are to Denver. Come for the sunshine. Stay for the reign.

“I asked him a long time ago, ‘Who is your least favorite person to play against? Or guy that guards you best?'” Nuggets wing Peyton Watson said of teammate and presumed NBA Most Valuable Player Nikola Jokic after the latter dropped 41 points on Minnesota’s top-ranked defense.

“He said, ‘Really? Nobody. I kill everybody.’ And I never asked him again.”

One can’t be stopped. The other can’t be caught. Jokic and Nathan MacKinnon are engines of the Nuggets and Avalanche, respectively, Kings of Ball Arena. Denver’s immovable object and its irresistible force.

When your children ask you why life isn’t fair, gently remind them that while everybody in the free world could watch Russell Wilson ignore his tight ends and slot receivers for three hours, Jokic and MacKinnon perform sporting sonatas in comparative darkness.

Behind the Comcast-Kroenke TV Iron Curtain, Mack Daddy and the Joker didn’t just make magic this week. They hammered home closing arguments for taking home MVP honors in the NHL and NBA, respectively. They produced two of the greatest individual performances over a 48-hour stretch in Ball Arena history.

On Tuesday night, MacKinnon put up a hat trick on the hapless Minnesota Wild. That gave the speedy forward 51 goals and 137 points with two regular-season games to go.

On Wednesday evening, Jokic might’ve done Nasty Nate one better. Big Honey torched the Timberwolves and star center Rudy Gobert, the likely NBA Defensive Player of the Year, for a double-double. More importantly, his killer night leapfrogged the Nuggets past Minnesota for the No. 1 spot in the Western Conference’s playoff bracket.

“Of course they missed (Karl-Anthony Towns),” said the Joker, whose Nuggets close out the regular season with a two-game road swing at San Antonio on Friday and at Memphis on Sunday. “But it was just one of those nights, probably.”

It’s been one of those years, assuredly. Despite the predictable protests of comedians Kevin Hart — “It’s not good for the NBA. Joker cannot win another MVP,” he groaned on “NBA Unplugged” — and Cedric The Entertainer, the league’s top individual honor has been Jokic’s to lose ever since Joel Embiid’s knee gave out two months ago.

Although we’ll tell ya what: If you’re still stuck as to whether The Sombor Shuffler is worthy of a third MVP trophy in four years, let’s apply the Minnesota test.

The Timberpups rolled into the Mile High City with the top defense in the NBA. Minny’s long and physical, a roster loaded with young (Anthony Edwards), old (Mike Conley) and lovable (Monte Morris) pests. Here’s how the West’s top three MVP candidates — Jokic, Dallas’ Luka Doncic and Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander — have fared against the Wolves and how those numbers stack up when normalized to 36 minutes per game:

• Joker: 2-2 record, 33.5 points, 11.9 rebounds, 4.53 assists

• Luka: 1-1 record (one inactive), 33.4 points, 5.5 rebounds, 9.6 assists

• SGA: 2-2 record, 36.6 points, 4.8 rebounds, 6.8 assists

“That (was) a big one for (Jokic), because they’re trying to do junk defenses and junk it up,” said Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon, who dished out nine dime against Minnesota. “This (was) a big game for him. But you know what’s great about him? He just treats it like any other game.”

It wasn’t. Nuggets coach Michael Malone gave his playoff rotation a little test run, running AG out as a five with Denver’s second unit, just as he did during the Nuggs’ championship run last year. Ball Arena rocked with postseason juice and rolled with a postseason stakes.

And perhaps never moreso than with 2:46 left in the third quarter, when Jokic broke free at midcourt, seized a gap in the lane and barged into a waiting Gobert, drawing the and-1 on a runner in the lane. His basket sliced the deficit to three, sending the crowd into a tizzy and the Minnesota center into a rage worthy of Yosemite Sam.

“His discipline, his focus, his level of commitment to the game of basketball and to his body is second to none,” Gordon said. “I don’t think there’s anybody that works harder than he does. Everything that he gets, he deserves.”

Jokic and MacKinnon have completely different body types, different strengths, different skill sets in different sports. They’ve got the same vision. The same IQ. The same tide that lifts all boats around them. They’re both driven like a ’97 Ford Windstar, perfectionists to the core, competitors to the last.

I mean, what else would you call a guy, I asked Watson late Wednesday, who runs around with Gobert all up in his face, and nails 16 of 20 shots anyway?

To this, the young Nugget cupped a hand to his mouth, calling out to the Joker as the MVP sauntered to his locker stall. An audience of one.

“Baaaaaaah,” Watson bleated, grinning at his Serbian pal. “(He’s) the GOAT.

“I think because he goes out and he’s so dominant, so often, people take it for granted.”

Don’t. No pro town has been the home to NHL and NBA MVPs in the same season since Los Angeles in 1989. Thirty-five years ago, Tinseltown had Earvin Johnson sharing the spotlight with Wayne Gretzky.

Magic and The Great One then. Joker and Nate now. Who needs Hollywood? There’s no better place to see the stars, gleaming on a clear, cool, spring night, than from a Mile High.

Want more Nuggets news? Sign up for the Nuggets Insider to get all our NBA analysis.

SALT LAKE CITY — Justin Holiday was out of the locker room early to warm up for the second half Tuesday night, but an acrobatic halftime performer and his small dog were still occupying the court at Delta Center. So Holiday stood on the Nuggets’ sideline and enjoyed the rest of the show.

He’s the player on Denver’s 2023-24 roster whose role has been perhaps the least conventional, at least for a large chunk of the season. But his go-with-the-flow professionalism has proven to be a crucial element of his value to the Nuggets.

It’s a quality that may continue to be useful in the playoffs. Coach Michael Malone was noncommittal Tuesday when asked whether Holiday will have a place in Denver’s playoff rotation, reiterating his recent comment that bench lineups could be matchup-dependent rather than predetermined.

Maybe that means the Nuggets go nine deep more often than last year — Holiday would likely be the ninth guy. Or maybe it means Holiday will get a lot of run one series and barely any the next. Or maybe it means he just won’t play much at all.

Whatever the case, Denver’s bench is inconsistent enough that it’s a comfort to feature some variety.

If anyone has to be kept on a swivel, Malone is glad it’s Holiday.

“I trust him 100%,” Malone said. “He’s a veteran. He’s been around the league for a long time, and he’s proven in the one year with us, he’s proven himself to be trustworthy. Disciplined. Stays ready. Makes open shots. Guards. He’s done everything that’s been asked of him. For a while, he was a guy that would play if there was an injury, and then for the last month or so he’s been a rotation player for us.”

Indeed, Holiday has become part of Malone’s rotation the second half of the season. But the oddity in his usage was earlier. Holiday played a grand total of 36 minutes in Denver’s first 15 games. He was an end-of-the-bench reserve. Then Aaron Gordon, who plays an entirely different position and style, suffered a minor injury and had to miss four games. Holiday went from not playing at all to replacing Gordon in the starting lineup.

When Gordon returned, Holiday was in and out of the rotation for a few games — two DNPs in early December — until Kentavious Caldwell-Pope got hurt. Holiday returned to the starting lineup again.

“It’s not about me,” he told The Denver Post early in the season. “It’s about this team and what we’re trying to do together.”

With consistent playing time has come efficient production. Holiday has played every game since the All-Star break as a fixture of Denver’s second unit, making the most of his modest 15 minutes per game by shooting 42.9% from 3-point range on 2.2 attempts. He’s providing dependable if not exceptional perimeter defense when Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is on the bench. He’s well-liked in the locker room and throughout the organization. After one road loss, Michael Porter Jr. asked him for insight on what Porter could do better defensively, a sign of quickly earned trust among teammates.

As for his relevance in the playoffs? It might just be a go-with-the-flow thing.

“We’ll figure out our playoff rotation when they start, and a lot of it will depend upon matchups, who we’re playing,” Malone said. “But yeah, I have nothing but confidence and respect for Justin Holiday and everything he’s done and meant to this team.”

Want more Nuggets news? Sign up for the Nuggets Insider to get all our NBA analysis.