The Nuggets secured the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference playoffs tonight even before they played at Portland.
With the Houston Rockets losing at Dallas, the Rockets (53-29) will fall at least one win short of the Nuggets in the final standings.
The Nuggets will face No. 7 seed New Orleans, which lost tonight in overtime at San Antonio to drop to the seventh spot. The Hornets (49-33) needed to win to stay head of Dallas in the standings.
The full schedule of the opening round will be announced later tonight.
The Nuggets and Hornets split the four-game series, though in the Hornets’ 13-point win Jan. 28, the Nuggets were without Carmelo Anthony.
MATCHUPS
A look at the postseason matchups. The complete schedules will be announced late Wednesday night:
WESTERN CONFERENCE
No. 1 L.A. Lakers vs. No. 8 Utah
No. 2 Denver vs. No. 7 New Orleans
No. 3 San Antonio vs. No. 6 Dallas
*-No. 4/5 Portland vs. No. 4/5 Houston
*-Portland gets No. 4 seed if it beats Denver and No. 5 seed if it loses
EASTERN CONFERENCE
No. 1 Cleveland vs. No. 8 Detroit
No. 2 Boston vs. No. 7 Chicago
No. 3 Orlando vs. No. 6 Philadelphia
No. 4 Atlanta vs. No. 5 Miami
