Nuggets' road to No. 2 in West unlike any other

Games against the Lakers, Spurs and Suns will test the Nuggets' chance at No. 2 in the West.

• Hello, Nuggets. And welcome to life as the team on the spot. No one could have imagined a couple weeks ago that they would be in such a precarious spot, but wobbly play of late combined with a hellacious finishing schedule makes it so. The 98-94 road win Wednesday against the Thunder was huge. The final four opponents, though, are the Lakers, Spurs, Grizzlies, and Suns, with one back-to-back that finishes tonight against L.A. and another against Memphis and Phoenix that closes the regular season. While all the West playoff teams chasing the Lakers are bunched, no one is going to have the heavy lifting of Denver to stay near the top and claim at least home-court advantage for the first round.

• That's actually a double-blow of brutal timing in Milwaukee -- losing Andrew Bogut to an arm injury with the playoffs close (and reason to be excited for a change about the Bucks' chances) and Bogut losing out on his postseason payback after so much losing in Milwaukee. One lineup hit, one emotional hit. Bogut had, understandably, appreciated this charge up the standings more than anyone there, saying before the mangling fall, "I think in pro sports today, it's cool to stick it out in tough times and then finally figure out that it's turning the corner rather than just jumping ship, you know what I mean?" The die-hards there definitely do.

• The other trouble: The Bucks get the 76ers on Friday but then finish up with home games against the Celtics and Hawks and then a trip to Boston. They have to do this while trying to hold on to No. 5 in the East to avoid a 2-7 matchup with the Magic. The Heat, tied with Milwaukee for fifth, have a much easier path: vs. Pistons, at Knicks, at 76ers and then vs. Nets. And the Bobcats, trying to move up from seventh, are at the Rockets and then go vs. Pistons, at Nets and vs. Bulls. The fates are suddenly conspiring against the Bucks.

• Relax. LeBron James said he probably won't play in the world championships in the summer and Team USA boss Jerry Colangelo said priority for the 2012 Olympic roster will go to players who maintain a relationship with the program, but the bridge is far from burned. Other players have gotten back in Colangelo's good graces without being the King of the world, and James' business interests will want him in London for the Summer Games. Neither has made it personal. This all gets worked out.

• No great Draft surprises so far. John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Patrick Patterson and Daniel Orton of Kentucky, Evan Turner of Syracuse, Al-Farouq Aminu of Wake Forest and Xavier Henry of Kansas have declared in recent days, with Wall and Turner still on course to go 1-2 and the others somewhere between lottery certainties or possibilities. The biggest wait at the top is for Donatas Motiejunas, a 19-year-old Lithuanian playing in Italy who is tracking for the top 10 but has yet to state his intentions. The athletic, skilled 7-footer has impressive range, drawing comparisons to Andrea Bargnani, but isn't close to being strong enough to handle power forward. One GM said he'd consider playing Motiejunas at small forward as a rookie, a testament to the mobility and offensive package at that size but also to the lack of muscle.

• And what a strange Final Four from the NBA perspective. Not one 2010 lottery pick.

• Just when things couldn't get any worse for the Hornets in a major disappointment of a season, along comes last week. The Wizards arrive in New Orleans on a 16-game losing streak and contending for the second-worst record in the league ... and shoot 55.9 percent and win 96-91. Three nights later, the Hornets are in New Jersey, home of the worst record ... and the Nets shoot 58.2 percent and win 115-87. "We have been caught the last few games, like I said, not prepared to go out and compete," forward David West told the New Orleans Times-Picayune.

• Not merely finishing a very good season, Zach Randolph is closing what could be a turning-point season for his image. Once a magnet for bad publicity, Randolph got the meaningful statement of being named to the All-Star team for the first time in a poll of Western Conference coaches in a new level of acceptance, and now he is being given a large portion of the credit for the Grizzlies threatening a .500 finish. "He's the reason we're where we are," coach Lionel Hollins said. The next telling moment will come in seeing if he gets any votes for third-team All-NBA at forward in the media balloting.