The final regular-season game between the Denver Nuggets and the San Antonio Spurs had more meaning than meets the eye. Although both teams are firmly in the playoff picture, the result ultimately decided the Nuggets’ seeding and whether the Spurs could avoid two of the last three Western Conference champions.
It turns out, San Antonio never seemed to care. The Silver and Black held out Victor Wembanyama and tried to do the job without the MVP candidate, to no avail. According to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, the repercussions of that loss could end up haunting the Spurs.
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One is better than two
San Antonio firmly sits in the top two in the West, winning 62 games, the most since the 2015-16 season. However, matchups matter in the postseason, and the Spurs had the perfect opportunity to set themselves up in a less difficult bracket. The problem was that they could not get the job done, even after Nikola Jokic sat out the whole second half.
“This would have been seen as a wonderful opportunity for the Spurs… because the Spurs have dominated every team they played this year, including the Oklahoma City Thunder, whom they beat four times,” Windhorst said on ESPN’s “First Take.”
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“The only team that has been able to get the Spurs’ number all year long has been the Denver Nuggets. So here, they were brought a silver platter of opportunity to punch the Nuggets to the other side of the bracket on the last day of the season to make their pathway to the Finals so much smoother,” he added.
Instead, as Windy noted, San Antonio chose to sit out Wemby, who should be healthy enough to play in the Nuggets game. After all, he scored 40 the last time he was on the floor.
Meanwhile, Denver pulled out Jokic in the second half and was already without Jamal Murray. As Windhorst saw it, the Nuggets were actively trying to stay away from the 3-seed to avoid the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Wolves, of course, had the size to make life difficult for Joker, and they showed they could do it by eliminating the Nuggets in the second round two years ago.
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Ultimately, Denver won, 128-118, impacting the playoff seedings, especially for San Antonio. Instead of facing either the Los Angeles Lakers or the Wolves in the second round before drawing the defending champs in the Conference Finals, they had to go through their Kryptonite in Jokic and Co. (Denver is 3-1 vs San Antonio this season.)
“When the dust settles here, this was a huge setback in my view for the Spurs because, not only are they now on the same side of the bracket as Denver, having been given this great opportunity to knock them away, they can’t apparently beat them even when they bench all their star players,” stated the ESPN analyst.
Championship-caliber teams want all the smoke
Windhorst made some excellent points on many fronts. The Nuggets present all sorts of different problems for Wembanyama, especially Jokic.
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But then again, it also doesn’t make sense to duck someone just so you have an easier path to the top. If anything, The Alien will want to solve the puzzle now rather than deal with it years down the road.
“My conclusion of this game is that it was good for us. It’s a real test against a team that’s actually playing for something right now,” the French big man said after a 136-134 overtime loss to the Nuggets on April 5.
Now, Wemby and the gang might have at least four games to experience that type of “fun” again. They will have to deal with their respective first-round matchups, though, before anything else.
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This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Apr 14, 2026, where it first appeared in the Latest News section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.