Nuggets get Timberwolves in first-round NBA playoff series after beating Spurs in season finale

Bennett Durando, The Denver Post on Apr 12, 2026

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SAN ANTONIO — Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets sure know how to keep people guessing.

They are officially set to face the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the NBA playoffs, a fate sealed by their 128-118 win over the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday night. But it was how Denver (54-28) got to that endpoint that provided compelling theater throughout the last weekend of the regular season.

Riding a 10-game win streak Friday with a chance to close in on or clinch the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference, they surprised the NBA world by resting their entire starting lineup in what could’ve been a walkover against Oklahoma City’s reserves. Prioritizing health signaled a willingness to fall to the No. 4 seed and face Houston instead of Minnesota. It also meant Denver was content to land on the same side of the bracket as first-place OKC. The league was caught off-guard.

And so the projected final standings shifted to reflect the Nuggets’ decision to travel to San Antonio without four of those starters. Surely, they would lose Sunday and finish as the No. 4 seed.

People almost forgot about the fifth starter. Jokic was on that plane to Texas, bound for a 15-minute appearance to cement his eligibility for MVP and All-NBA voting. He was not to be denied. The superstar center and a ragtag supporting cast surged to a 23-point first-half lead on San Antonio. It was decided, then: Denver would finish third place after all, no matter how circuitously.

Naturally, another plot twist was in store. Nuggets coach David Adelman was transparent before opening tip: Jokic would play the first half to meet his games-played minimum (65), then Denver would evaluate its options. Translation: Jokic wasn’t going to play the second half. So it was up to Denver’s bench to protect the lead against the second-place Spurs, who were playing most of their normal rotation despite it being a meaningless game at the surface level.

Peel back the layers, and their motivations were obvious. They didn’t want Denver on their side of the playoff bracket. They wanted Jokic in the No. 4 slot to help their own path.

De’Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle, Devin Vassell and Dylan Harper played, even if Victor Wembanyama did not. They played past halftime, after Jokic’s night was over. The Spurs were on a mission. They sliced their deficit to six early in the fourth quarter. Maybe the Nuggets were in fact destined for the No. 4 seed.

But they had every answer for San Antonio. Jonas Valanciunas and David Roddy were physical forces. Julian Strawther and Bruce Brown and Curtis Jones got buckets. Brown was finishing out an Iron Man season with pride while the rest of Denver’s usual rotation was absent. He was the team’s only player to appear in all 82 games.

The Nuggets landed the last punch. They pushed the lead back to 16 late in the fourth, then held off a barrage of San Antonio 3s that rimmed out after it was cut back to single digits.

Are you not entertained?

Strawther led the team with 25 points. Valanciunas went for a 16-point, 11-rebound double-double.

The schedule for Denver’s first-round series has not yet been announced, but it will begin at Ball Arena.

The Nuggets technically needed a win or a Lakers loss to Utah on Sunday night to end up in the No. 3 seed. But the result between Los Angeles and Utah was a foregone conclusion, with the Jazz desperate to maximize its chances of keeping a top-eight protected lottery pick in the upcoming draft. (If the pick is ninth or later, it goes to Oklahoma City.) The Lakers were up by 30 by the fourth.

So if the Nuggets had lost, they would have finished in fourth place with Houston as a first-round opponent.

“Every year, you kind of look back at the PR people, ask where people are in their games,” Adelman said. “… Absolutely, we’ll try to figure out what’s going on.”

Jokic finished his night with 23 points and eight rebounds in 18 minutes. He finished his 2025-26 campaign with averages of 27.7 points, 12.9 rebounds and 10.7 assists per game. He has averaged a triple-double in two consecutive seasons.

The Nuggets will go into the playoffs on a 12-game win streak, the longest of Jokic’s career. Their final win total of 54 eclipses that of the 2022-23 team that won the NBA championship.

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