The Denver Nuggets beat the New Orleans Pelicans Friday night, keeping pace with the Portland Trail Blazers in the race for the 8th seed in the Western Conference Playoffs.

The Blazers’ “Magic Number” continues to be any combination of TWO wins or Denver losses.

2017 Western Conference 8th Seed Battle Team Wins Losses Games Behind Team Wins Losses Games Behind Portland Trail Blazers 40 40 -- Denver Nuggets 38 41 1.5

The Nuggets again sit 1 game behind the Blazers. But since Portland owns the tiebreaker, Denver must win the 8th spot outright. As such, the Blazers essentially have a 2 game lead. Both teams have 3 games left, will each play two games against playoff teams. However, playoff teams may start resting players during the stretch run.

Here are their remaining schedules:

Portland Trail Blazers:

April 8th: vs. Utah Jazz

April 10th: vs. San Antonio Spurs

April 12th: vs. New Orleans Pelicans

Denver Nuggets:

April 9th: vs. Oklahoma City

April 11th: at Dallas Mavericks

April 12th: at Oklahoma City