Updated on: April 13, 2025 / 11:51 PM MDT / CBS Colorado

A wild week in the NBA’s Western Conference is finally over.

Nikola Jokic #15 of the Denver Nuggets is defended by Ivica Zubac #40 of the LA Clippers at Ball Arena on December 13, 2024. Dustin Bradford / Getty Images

The Denver Nuggets wrapped up regular season play against the Houston Rockets on Sunday. They needed to win to clinch a top six seed in the conference and avoid the Play-In Tournament.

Interim head coach David Adelman is undefeated since taking over for the fired Michael Malone, and it stayed that way on Sunday. After a close first half in Texas, the Nuggets pulled away in the third quarter. They outscored the Rockets 37-19 in that quarter.

The final score was 126-111 and the regular season ended with three straight Nuggets wins.

“I think they’re trending the right way,” Adelman said. “If we can play that hard and consistently communicate the way we are — not just out on the court but halftime the guys were great. The communication was good. And that’s what we need. We need a collective feeling of ‘When things get tough, we got each other’s back’ and that’s what I saw the last three games.”

With the win, Denver secured the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference and will host the No. 5 seed Los Angeles Clippers in the first round of the NBA Playoffs. Game 1 will either be on Saturday or Sunday at Ball Arena.

The Nuggets and the Clippers split the four games they played this season.

Malone took out a full page ad in the Denver Post on Sunday. He thanked and bid farewell to Nuggets Nation. He said he will “always cherish” having helped bring Denver its first NBA Championship.

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