The Denver Nuggets pulled off an extremely important 105-99 win over the Phoenix Suns on Friday night and grabbed firm control of the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference, but now they need to keep that momentum by beating the Golden State Warriors on Saturday. The Warriors are predisposed with their own unofficially quest to fall into the bottom seven teams in the NBA because their 2012 NBA Draft pick is top-7 protected, so Denver has a perfect opportunity to gain even more separation from Phoenix and Utah in the playoff race.
Here's a look at the NBA's Western Conference Standings heading into Saturday's action:
| WESTERN | W | L | PCT | GB | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Antonio Spurs | 39 | 14 | 0.736 | - |
| 2 | x - Oklahoma City Thunder | 40 | 15 | 0.727 | - |
| 3 | LA Lakers | 35 | 21 | 0.625 | 5 ½ |
| 4 | LA Clippers | 33 | 22 | 0.6 | 7 |
| 5 | Memphis Grizzlies | 31 | 23 | 0.574 | 8 ½ |
| 6 | Dallas Mavericks | 31 | 25 | 0.554 | 9 ½ |
| 7 | Houston Rockets | 30 | 25 | 0.545 | 10 |
| 8 | Denver Nuggets | 30 | 25 | 0.545 | 10 |
| Utah Jazz | 29 | 27 | 0.518 | 11 ½ | |
| Phoenix Suns | 28 | 27 | 0.509 | 12 |
Here's what the West bracket would look like if the season ended suddenly.
Spurs (1) vs. Nuggets (8)
Thunder (2) vs. Rockets (7)
Lakers (3) vs. Mavericks (6)
Clippers (4) vs. Grizzlies (5)
This is the information you need to find the game on Saturday:
Game time: 7:00 p.m. MT; Friday, April 6, 2012
Location: ORACLE Arena, Oakland, CA
TV: ESPN, Altitude
For updates, stay tuned to SB Nation Denver. For more in-depth coverage, head over to Nuggets blog Denver Stiffs and Warriors blog Golden State of Mind. And for updates from around the league, check out SB Nation's NBA news hub.