The San Antonio Spurs come into Game 82 of the 2025-2026 regular season with the power to influence the final standings and potential 2nd round match-ups. Though they’re locked into the #2 seed and one side of the West bracket, their opponent tonight, the Denver Nuggets, come into tonight’s game as the 3rd seed, but with their final placement in the standings very much up in the air. The scenario that’s being floated the most amongst pundits and Twitter timelines: A Nuggets loss and Los Angeles Lakers win (they play at the same time at home against the Utah Jazz) would drop Denver to the #4 spot. That sounds like a dream scenario for the young Spurs, who would have to face just one of either Denver or the Oklahoma City Thunder on a potential path to the NBA Finals. There’s no telling what Mitch Johnson and the Spurs’ brain trust is thinking or if they have a preference or if it’s something they’re even thinking about. Based on the history of this franchise, even with Denver sitting basically everyone and leaving their fate in San Antonio’s hands, it really wouldn’t be a shock to see them ultimately hold at least Victor Wembanyama out, give the rest of the top 6 guys a bit of burn, and let the chips fall where they may, completely unconcerned with what path other teams have to take. These Spurs think they can beat anyone and the real test is just around the corner.
San Antonio Spurs (62-19) vs Denver Nuggets (53-28)
April 12 2026 | 7:30 PM CT
Watch: ESPN | Listen: WOAI (1200 AM)
Spurs Injuries: Victor Wembanyama, questionable, Devin Vassell, questionable, Stephon Castle, questionable, Luke Kornet, shoulder (OUT), David Jones-Garcia, OUT
Nuggets Injuries: Nikola Jokic, questionable, Jamal Murray, OUT, Aaron Gordon, OUT, Tim Hardaway Jr, OUT, Christian Braun, OUT, Peyton Watson, OUT, Spencer Jones, OUT, Cam Johnson, OUT
What to watch for
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With 3 starters questionable coming into this one including Wemby, Mitch Johnson’s line of thinking sadly won’t be revealed until gametime. Regardless of Johnson’s final approach to this game, expect to see Nikola Jokic on the court for the Nuggets. Jokic comes into Sunday’s game sitting at 64 games played, 1 shy of the 65-game minimum that players must hit to be considered for regular season awards. Injured for part of the year, Jokic has nonetheless was spectacular yet again this season, leading the league in both rebounding (12.7) and assists (10.9) on his way to averaging a triple double for the second consecutive season.
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Pretty much everyone else is out for Denver though, which should tell you all you need to know about David Adelman’s approach to tonight’s game. Having already won a championship with their current core (though Michael Malone was the head coach at the time), it seems pretty apparent by their decision to sit their starters these last two games that the Nuggets aren’t particularily concerned with which side of the bracket they end up on. Having a player the caliber of Jokic, a highly decorated veteran who is capable of carrying a team throughout multiple playoff series, affords them that luxury.
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