The Denver Nuggets have just seven games left in the 2025-26 regular season before their official seeding in the Western Conference is finalized, and they’ll be off and running for a highly anticipated postseason slate that’s been building up all year long.
As of late, things have been coming together nicely for a Nuggets team that has seen a fair share of ups and downs in recent weeks. They’re in the midst of a five-game winning streak, are having explosive performances on the offensive end, and have seen their star duo of Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic have some stellar games throughout.
But before the Nuggets get to the end of the year, three-time MVP won’t be too focused on where he and Denver end up before that time actually arrives.
Instead, after the Nuggets’ win vs. the Jazz, Jokic made it clear he’s keeping his priorities squarely focused on the seven games that lie ahead, and will let the chips fall where they may.
“We still have seven more games,” Jokic said postgame. “Who knows what’s going to happen in those seven games? What seed, who we’re going to play, matchup, this and that. And then, that team, who we’re going to play, maybe somebody’s going to get injured… Maybe they’re going to have a bad stretch. Maybe we’re going to have an extremely good stretch.”
“I think it’s really hard to say, ‘Oh, yeah, we’re going to have an amazing playoffs… because you cannot know what’s going to happen, and how the team’s going to feel in a month.”
Nikola Jokic Not Worried About Nuggets’ Seeding
Still with over two weeks to go before the playoffs are officially underway, the Nuggets have several directions their seed in the West could go between now and when their standing is official.
Best case scenario says the Nuggets go on a run while the LA Lakers begin to stumble, and leads to Denver rising up to the third seed before the season comes to a close. Worst case scenario would realistically mean the Nuggets drop down to the sixth seed, lose home-court advantage in round one, and travel to play the Lakers or another team to surge up the standings between now and mid-April.
There’s a lot of volatility that could come into play for the coming weeks. And for Jokic, especially when factoring in the important regular season games left on the horizon, his focus remains on the present day and how to propel the Nuggets forward now, compared to what things could look like come time for the playoffs.
“I think it’s hard to predict and hard to say,” Jokic continued. “Like, when we won a championship, we lost the last three games of the season, and we won a championship. We can maybe win five in a row, and lose in the first round. We can lose the next seven games and then play in the play-in game.”
“I don’t like to look into the future like that. That’s not how I am. That’s not how I work.”
Mar 27, 2026; Denver, Colorado, USA; Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) looks to pass the ball as he is defended by Utah Jazz guard Elijah Harkless (16) during the first half at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-Imagn Images | Christopher Hanewinckel-Imagn Images
In the meantime, the Nuggets will have a couple of matchups left on tap with the San Antonio Spurs, one with the reigning champion OKC Thunder, and four more lottery teams to face before finishing off their 82-game slate, and then can shift their priorities to their round one matchup, whoever that might end up being.
Until then, it’s one day at a time, and one game at a time for the multiple-time MVP.