DENVER — On Tuesday night, The Athletic asked Denver Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokić how important Wednesday night’s matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves would be.

Jokić shook his head and said the game that would likely determine the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference wasn’t important at all.

“I don’t think it’s a really big game,” Jokić said after the Nuggets defeated the Utah Jazz. “Yes, we are going to go out there and play to win the game, of course. But I think people are just making their stories that it’s a big game. Hopefully, it’s going to be interesting.”

With all due respect to the best player in the league, the Nuggets played Wednesday night like it was a big game. Jokić turned in a masterpiece, in true big-game fashion. Michael Malone coached like it was a big game, going to his playoff-centric second unit that features Aaron Gordon playing at center, and shortening his rotations. Most of all, Denver’s execution, its ability to make shots and its ability to garner defensive stops all pointed to the Nuggets truly wanting this one.

The result was a 116-107 win over Minnesota before a charged sellout crowd at Ball Arena. And the further result is the Nuggets having the inside track to the top seed in the Western Conference, and the homecourt advantage through the Western Conference playoffs that will come with it. Because the West is so difficult as a conference, there are some drawbacks to this. The Dallas Mavericks are tracking as the No. 5 seed, and they are truly a dangerous team at this point. The Golden State Warriors or the Los Angeles Lakers may get the No. 8 seed, and they are both better than your typical No. 8 seed.

But, if you’re Denver, you want a few things. You want homecourt advantage through the postseason because the Nuggets are almost impossible to beat at Ball Arena. You want to be playing in peak form, and the Nuggets are doing that. You want to be healthy, and Denver is rounding point guard Jamal Murray into form. Jokić saying one thing and then going out and roasting the Timberwolves frontcourt in the second half puts the cherry on the comedic route he took on Tuesday. Of course Wednesday night was big, and the Nuggets went out and played that way. They looked like the defending NBA champions that they are, and they looked like a team that should be favored to survive the Western Conference and return to the finals.

Jokić’s effect on the game bordered on insanity. He scored 41 points. He made 16 of his 20 shots. He grabbed 11 rebounds. He handed out seven assists. He took the game over in the latter stages of the third quarter, and the Nuggets never looked back when they took control for good in the fourth quarter. If they win out, which is likely given their schedule, they will clinch the top seed, no matter what happens around them.

In the latter stages of the win, Ball Arena serenaded Jokić with MVP chants. And that likely comes in a few weeks. But for now, whether Jokić deemed the matchup important or not, the Nuggets picked up their most important win of the regular season.

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(Photo: Ron Chenoy / USA Today)