A second-round series with the Suns showed the Denver Nuggets the speed at which the NBA landscape can change.

During season-best eight-game winning streak in late March and early April, the Denver Nuggets had seamlessly, it appeared, added Aaron Gordon to the rotation and felt like champion contenders. They looked the part in a 101-94 win on the Los Angeles Clippers’ home court.

“At that point in time, I thought we had a chance to win it all this year — I really did,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said Sunday after the Suns eliminated his team from the playoffs. “That’s how well we were playing.”

The Nuggets only needed 14 points, seven rebounds and seven assists from Nikola Jokic to beat a healthy Clippers squad, as Jamal Murray (23 points), Michael Porter Jr. (20), Will Barton III (19) and Gordon (14) carried the scoring load. Before the end of the month, the Nuggets found themselves without Murray for the rest of the season and Barton until the Game 2 of the Phoenix series.

Over the final months of the season, Jokic would secure the franchise’s first NBA Most Valuable Player award by carrying his team to the playoffs, while Porter, Gordon and the rest of the Nuggets — some of which joined the team midseason — were thrust into larger roles. It was enough to earn the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference, but the Nuggets would need more against a Suns team that missed last season’s bubble playoffs.

“Of course, that didn’t go how we wanted. They beat us,” Jokic said after his MVP season. “They whupped our (butt), but I think the whole team needs to walk out of the arena with their head up. It is what it is. Sometimes you need to accept a loss.”

Phoenix will be one of the teams to replace Denver in the Western Conference finals thanks to an offseason trade for Chris Paul and improvements from the rest of a young and talented roster.

“Chris Paul and Devin Booker (are) an unbelievable backcourt, some really good role playing from the other players. I just wish we could have played them at full strength. You take every team’s second-best player off their roster, how good are you going to be? No excuses, (Suns coach) Monty Williams did a great job.” Malone said.

“They’re going to be a tough out, so you have to tip your cap to them and give them the respect that they deserve.”

The Suns beat the short-handed Nuggets by 14 or more points in each of the first three games of the series before winning Game 4 by seven. Denver battled to extend the season even after falling behind by 15 after Jokic’s ejection.

“We fought. We just came up short,” Monte Morris said.

“Give Phoenix credit, man. They were the better team this whole series, and they showed it.”

The Clippers, playing a similar lineup as that game in April, and the Utah Jazz, the other team the Nuggets eliminated from last postseason, are vying for the other spot in the conference finals, leaving the Nuggets as the last of the prior season’s conference finalists standing.

“I think we were able to rise above it, because we have the MVP. Nikola Jokic put his teammates on his back in round 1 and was otherworldly in that series,” Malone said. “Obviously, in that second series against Phoenix, we just needed more help, more guys to step up. It wasn’t for a lack of effort, so I think we’ll give everybody some time off mentally, physically and hopefully we can start next season fresh and healthy as possible to have another run at this thing.”