Nikola Jokić, Nuggets Clinching 1-Seed in West for 1st Time Ever Leaves Fans in Awe

The Denver Nuggets will be the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference playoffs for the first time in franchise history.

Denver locked up the top spot on Wednesday night thanks to the Memphis Grizzlies' 138-131 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans. The team's 52 wins are its most since 2018-19 (54) with three games remaining in the regular season.

Nikola Jokić is arguably the front-runner to win his third consecutive MVP award. He has a chance to finish the season averaging a triple-double, with 24.8 points, 11.9 rebounds and 9.8 assists per game with three games left to play.

The offense is going to be dangerous with Jokić's playmaking skill combined with Jamal Murray, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Michael Porter Jr. all shooting at least 39.8 percent from three-point range.

If the Nuggets win out, it would give them 55 wins for the first time since going 57-25 in 2012-13. This group will be hoping for a better result than that squad, which lost in the first round as the No. 3 seed to the Golden State Warriors.

Nuggets fans are very excited about what their team has accomplished so far after locking up the best record in the Western Conference:

The vibes weren't great for the Nuggets after an ugly 124-103 loss to the Houston Rockets on Tuesday. Head coach Michael Malone openly questioned his team's toughness after the game.

"If that's how we're going to play, we'll be out in the first round," Malone told reporters. "When we don't do our jobs, there's accountability. And I speak the truth. I just called our team 'soft,' and I dared someone to challenge me. No one did, because we as a group were soft tonight. I'm not saying we are soft, but tonight, we were."

The Nuggets did stumble into the No. 1 seed with three losses in their last four games, but they have been the best team in the Western Conference virtually all season. Their 33-7 home record ranks second only to the Grizzlies (35-6) in the west.

Their 19-20 road record doesn't seem encouraging, except it's the third-best mark among Western Conference teams, behind the Sacramento Kings (25-15), Los Angeles Clippers (20-20) and Los Angeles Lakers (20-21).

Since the Nuggets are guaranteed four home games in each of the first three rounds of the playoffs, they don't have to be great on the road to make a run to the NBA Finals.