Denver demonstrated an ability to take care of business and play great basketball even without most of their rotation available.
The Denver Nuggets rested several of their top contributors in the regular season finale against San Antonio. Nikola Jokic played 18 minutes and sat out the second half entirely, and Denver still won by ten.
The Nuggets beat the Spurs 128-118 on Sunday night to clinch the third seed in the Western Conference and finish the regular season on a 12-game winning streak, their second-longest in franchise history.
Julian Strawther led the way with 25 points, Jonas Valanciunas added 16 points and 11 rebounds, and seven Nuggets finished in double figures. All of that happened without Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon, Cam Johnson, or most of the names everyone associates with this roster.
David Adelman wasn't surprised by any of it. What stood out to him was the way his guys played, not just the result.
Apr 12, 2026; San Antonio, Texas, USA; Denver Nuggets center Jonas Valanciunas (17) lays in a basket over San Antonio Spurs forward Julian Champagnie (30) during the first half at Frost Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-Imagn ImagesA System That Doesn't Care Who's Playing
"I would say what really stands out to me is, whoever plays for us, we had 30 assists," Adelman said. "Whoever plays for us, we had 19 offensive rebounds with this group, but after the rebounds making the right plays for each other."
Thirty assists and 19 offensive rebounds against a Spurs team that finished 62-20. Everyone in that building knew their role and played within the system, even guys who hadn't seen meaningful minutes all season.
"And if you take a lot of open shots, you're bound to score a lot of points. And that's what we've done the whole season. And for them to have that translate to guys that haven't got an opportunity, that says a lot about our group."
The Nuggets can plug in players up and down their roster and still produce because the offense is built around finding open shots rather than isolation scoring. The ball moves, and everyone knows where it's supposed to go. That's been true all year, and Sunday was just the clearest example of it.
Heading Into the Playoffs on a Different Level
Jokic is obviously the engine of all of it. Even in a limited 18-minute appearance, he finished with 23 points and eight assists, showing once again why he's in the MVP conversation despite missing 14 games this season.
But the whole point of Sunday night was that the system holds up without him running every possession, and it did. Denver went on a 22-0 run in the second quarter and never looked back, building a lead large enough that the result was never really in doubt even when San Antonio made runs in the fourth.
No team in the NBA is carrying a longer winning streak into the postseason than the Nuggets. Twelve straight wins, the most road victories in a single season in franchise history at 26-15, and a 54-28 record that earned them home-court advantage in the first round against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Minnesota is a team that has beaten Denver before in the playoffs, and this series will be contested. But the Nuggets are walking into it as healthy as they've been all season, with a group that just proved depth isn't the concern it was in previous postseason runs. They're in an excellent position to move on.