50-plus wins: check.

No.1 seed in the West (for the first time in team history to boot): check.

Best player in franchise history at his peak: check.

It’s a great time to be a Nuggets fan — as long as you stay off Twitter that is.

Despite some rather harsh online critics, the Nuggets have been the best — and most consistent — team all season in a turbulent Western Conference.

Though, the de-emphasis that most teams have seemingly placed on the regular season means the entire West bracket is littered with talented teams.

The defending-champion Golden State Warriors are a six seed. LeBron and the Lakers a seven seed. And the Dallas Mavericks — who have two of arguably the best 15 players in the NBA — didn’t even make the play-in tournament.

So, tossing the Mavs aside (very similar to how Kyrie likely will this offseason), how do the Nuggets match up against the rest of the West.

Let’s take it round-by-round.

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ROUND 1: THE TIMBERWOLVES

The Timberwolves may not have been the best matchup the Nuggets could have got in the first round, it will sure be a fun one.

There’s a surprising amount of recent history between these two franchises.

Most notably, Nuggets former President of Basketball Operations Tim Connely bolted for the Timberwolves GM role last season.

Before that, T-Wolves won a defacto play-in game against Denver on the last day of the 2017-18 season, keeping an upstart Nuggets team out of the playoffs.

Since then, the Nuggets haven’t missed the playoffs, while Minnesota has struggled. The T-Wolves went through an unintentional rebuild that netted them Anthony Edwards and resulted in them getting the 7-seed last season.

And when things seemed to be moving in the right direction, The Timberwolves Timberwolve’d. They traded the majority of their roster at the time — along with four first-round draft picks — for Rudy Gobert.

And as many experts predicted, it hasn’t worked.

Minnesota stumbled to a frustrating 42-40 mark — four games worse than last season.

That frustration boiled over on the last day of this season, when Gobert punched Kyle Anderson, and All-Defense caliber wing Jaden McDaniels punched a wal.

Gobert was suspended for the first of two play-in games but returned in the win against the Thunder. McDaniels, however, broke his hand and will likely be out for the rest of the year.

While The T-Wolves have plenty of size to matchup with Jokic, neither Gobert or Towns has had any luck in the past.

Jokic consistently tore Gobert up while he was with the Jazz — highlighted by the popular, “Brother, I have47” story.

Meanwhile, KAT doesn’t really guard anyone. When he does guard, he fouls. And Jokic has been great at getting opposing bigs in foul trouble in the playoffs.

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CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS

THE SUNS

Thanks to the up-and-down nature of this regular season, the bracket didn’t exactly break perfect for the Nuggets.

Which means the Suns will most likely be waiting for Denver in the second round.

Phoenix would come into this matchup as a four seed, but would almost definitely be the betting favorite.

Since getting Kevin Durant in a trade with the Brooklyn Nets the night before the trade deadline in February, Phoenix has gone a casual 8-0 in games he’s played.

Impressive, but a very small sample size.

He was recovering from a sprained MCL when the Suns traded for him, then rolled his ankle in a layup line after returning for just three games.

And in that same timeframe, they’re just 8-11 in games he misses.

Not completely unexpected from a team that sent away a good chunk of its depth to get Durant, but still noteworthy.

Especially since Durant is 34 and hasn’t gone two-plus months (the duration of a championship run) since 2019. When he was still with the Golden State Warriors and hadn’t yet torn his Achilles.

But despite whatever injury risks KD might carry, adding him to a team that already has Devin Booker and Chris Paul is a scary proposition.

Especially when the bones of this same Suns team swept the Nuggets out of the playoffs two seasons ago. But this Nuggets team is much improved — and MUCH healthier — from two seasons ago.

Jamal Murray will play a key role after missing the 2021 series. As will Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Bruce Brown — both strong perimeter defenders brought in last offseason to bolster pick-and-roll defense.

DeAndre Ayton has had about as much success guarding Nikola Jokic the past three seasons as anyone. Surely, Jokic will look to get him if foul trouble early, forcing the Suns to turn to either Bismack Biyambo or Jock Landale.

THE CLIPPERS

As much trouble as the Suns have given the Nuggets recently, the clippers have actually been quite the opposite.

Since coming back from down 3-1 against the Clippers in the 2020 bubble playoffs, the Nuggets have basically owned the other L.A. team. They are 10-2 since, despite being without Murray and MPJ for most of that time.

And by the time a round two matchup would come around, Paul George will most likely have returned from a sprained knee that has sidelined him since March 21.

Add George to Kawaii Leonard — who also missed all of last season with a torn ACL — and the rest of this Clippers roster, they are a formal matchup for any team.

They added a pair of former Nuggets at the trade deadline — Mason Plumlee from Charlotte and Bones Hyland from the Nuggets themselves.

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CONFERENCE FINALS

THE WARRIORS

The defending champs, and the team that knocked the Nuggets out of the playoffs last season.

They bring back basically the same cast from last season, swapping in Donte D’Vincienzo and JaMychal Green for Otto Porter and Nemanja Bjelicia.

The cast from last season also includes the three mainstays of all four of their Championship teams – Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson.

But despite the continuity, the Warriors have struggled this season. Especially on the road. Golden State went 33-8 in San Francisco this year, but just 11-30 away from home.

And luckily for the Nuggets, the Warriors will have to come to Denver for four of seven.

But, Golden State will likely try to force Jokic to cover a lot of space in the pick-and-roll — a recipe that worked very well in last year’s series.

But maybe Denver has turned a corner this season. The Nuggets became the first team to sweep the Warriors in the Steve Kerr era, winning all four of their matchups this year.

MEMPHIS

It was an odd season for the second seed this season. The Grizzlies opened the year on a tear, challenging the Nuggets for the conference’s best record almost up until the All-Star break.

Then, it slowly unraveled.

Their season came to a head — funny enough— after a game in Denver, when Ja Morant flashed a gun on an Instagram Live. Shoutout Shotgun Willies.

But Morant returned after an eight game suspension, and the Grizzlies have seemingly righted the ship — thanks in large part to Jaren Jackson Jr.

The first-time All Star stepped up even bigger after the break, upping his offensive load significantly while Morant wasn’t playing.

But even with Morant back, the Grizzlies won’t be at full strength. Brandon Clarke tore his Achilles in that same game against the Nuggets and Steven Adams is likely to miss the entire playoffs with a sprained PCL he suffered in January.

And with Jokic looming, center isn’t a position at which the Grizzlies want to lack depth.

THE KINGS

Light the beam, baby!!!

The Kings have found the postseason for the first time since 2006. And it’s been a fun ride.

Led by Domantis Sabonis and De’Aaron Fox, the Kings have had the best offense in NBA history this season.

And while that number is skewed by the way the game is played nowadays, it’s still incredibly impressive.

But Sacramento hasn’t done much on the defensive side of the ball to inspire confidence. They have the league’s 24th best defense, with a defensive rating of 116.

So if they do matchup with Denver in the conference finals, expect a track meet.

The Nuggets have always struggled with quick guards in the Jokic era, and Fox may be the fastest player in the NBA with the ball.

And though Sabonis has never had any luck guarding Jokic, Big Honey hasn’t had much success stopping Sabonis either.

Sabonis has dropped 30-plus in two of his last three matchups with the two-time MVP — a feat he only managed three times this entire season.

THE LAKERS

To be honest, I don’t even want to talk about the Lakers.

They’ve been getting entirely too much respect all season, so they don’t need any here.

If they make the conference finals — or even get past the Grizzlies in the first round — I’ll be shocked.