Nuggets Clinch No. 3 Seed in 2020 NBA Playoffs After Loss vs. Clippers

The Denver Nuggets clinched the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference for the 2020 NBA playoffs on Wednesday after losing 124-111 to the Los Angeles Clippers, who earned the No. 2 seed with the victory.

Denver will face the No. 6 seed Utah Jazz in the first round of the playoffs beginning either Monday or Tuesday.

The Nuggets won their first three games of the season and 13 of their first 16 to put themselves on cruise control toward a postseason spot. The bigger challenge throughout the campaign was keeping pace atop the West with the Los Angeles rival Lakers and Clippers

Denver locked in its playoff berth when the league confirmed its restart plans following a four-month hiatus because of the coronavirus pandemic, but it still had to fight for seeding when play resumed at the Disney World complex in Orlando, Florida.

It's the second straight season the team is heading to the playoffs after a five-year postseason drought. The franchise has advanced beyond the opening round just twice since 1995, however, and has never reached the NBA Finals.

Nuggets head coach Michael Malone signed a contract extension in December and didn't shy away from setting high expectations.

"I look forward to continuing our ultimate goal of winning NBA championships," he said.

Denver has an outstanding one-two punch in center Nikola Jokic and point guard Jamal Murray—who's dealt with a hamstring injury in Orlando—but its playoff fate will likely be determined by how much production it receives from its secondary contributors.

It's a group led by Will Barton, Jerami Grant, Paul Millsap, Gary Harris and Michael Porter Jr., who enjoyed a 37-point outburst against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the bubble while seeing an uptick in playing time while the team worked through injuries.

All told, the Nuggets head into the playoffs flying under the radar despite their strong campaign. The star-studded Lakers and Clippers generate the most attention in the West, and the conference could arguably see any of its eight teams make some postseason noise.

Denver has both the high-end talent and the depth to reach the conference finals for just the fourth time in franchise history. If everything falls perfectly into place, it could potentially even break the aforementioned NBA Finals drought.