Portland had plenty to play for — the Nuggets not so much — and it showed Sunday in Portland.

That won’t be the case next time the two teams meet, in a first-round playoff series that will likely start next weekend.

The Trail Blazers scored the game’s first 11 points, hit nine 3-pointers in the first quarter, went up 20 later in the first quarter in a wire-to-wire 132-116 win over Denver that kept Portland out of the play-in round.

“It wasn’t must-win, but in their head it was a must-win game for them, and that’s how they played,” Nuggets star Nikola Jokic said. “They were making shots. They were aggressive. They were making the right pass. They were rebounding. And we didn’t do nothing. We were just there. We made their job easier.”

That result, paired with the Clippers’ loss to Oklahoma City, Dallas’ loss to Minnesota and the Lakers’ win over the Pelicans has Denver, the three seed, facing the sixth-seeded Trail Blazers with the Clippers and Mavericks playing in the 4-5 matchup. Two postseasons ago, the Trail Blazers eliminated the Nuggets in a second-round series that went seven games.

“They’re a really good team. We know them extremely well,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said.

“They know us, obviously. We’re going to need our starting five to play with a hell of a lot more urgency and care and compete and show up (better) than we did tonight. That was really disappointing and unacceptable. I thought everybody else on the roster, when they got a chance to play, played really hard.”

Malone has said multiple times he doesn’t care which team the Nuggets face in the first round and kept that attitude after the regular-season finale.

“Whether we played Portland, whether we played Dallas, whether we played the Lakers, we knew any of teams was going to be a hell of a challenge for us in the first round considering all the injuries that we still have,” Malone said.

Nikola Jokic and Michael Porter Jr. both started the game before sitting the second half with Portland up big. Reserve guard Markus Howard continued his strong stretch, posting a career high in scoring for the fourth time in five games with 23 points. Jokic scored 21 points in 16-plus minutes of playing time, while Paul Millsap and JaMychal Green added 12 and 11, respectively.

C.J. McCollum led Portland with 24 points, while Damian Lillard (22), Jusuf Nurkic (20) and Norman Powell (19) offered supplemental scoring.

“I think we felt like we could’ve played better tonight, probably a little bit more energy,” Millsap said.

As frustrating as the start to the game was, Malone said it won’t change his plans in the week leading up to Game 1 against the Trail Blazers at Ball Arena. The team is expected to return to Denver late Sunday, get Monday off before meeting Tuesday and starting practice Wednesday.

“It’s really important how we use this week to prepare both mentally and physically, because when Game 1 comes around, we’re going to have to have great effort, great energy, and we’re going to have to be able to play for 48 minutes,” Malone said. “Because that’s what it’s going to take to win a playoff game and a playoff series.”

Jokic expects to see just that the next time the two teams meet, despite Sunday’s effort.

“I think we have a group of guys who are going to go out there and compete, which is maybe the most important thing right now,” Jokic said. “Just go out there and play hard, compete. It’s going to be a fight. Just go out there and fight.”