If Phil Jackson’s famous rule is to be trusted, only one team in Sunday’s matchup between the last two NBA champions has a chance to win a second title in the last three years.

The former coach of the Bulls and Lakers, who led his teams to 11 combined championships between 1991 and 2010, once said the NBA’s only true contenders win their 40th game before their 20th loss. That’s been the case almost exclusively with three exceptions outside of the years when the NBA played a shortened schedule due to lockouts or the COVID-19 pandemic.

Boston, entering Sunday’s matchup of the last two champions with a 42-18 record, hopes the trend stays true, despite Friday’s home loss to the Cavaliers. The Celtics won this season’s first meeting between the last two title winners, 118-106, in Denver on Jan. 7, but neither Nikola Jokic nor Aaron Gordon played for the Nuggets.

“You learn from it and get ready for Sunday,” Celtics forward Jayson Tatum said after the loss. “It should be another fun one.”

Cleveland, with a 49-10 record after beating the defending champs, and Oklahoma City, which improved to 48-11 with a win over Atlanta on Friday, are the only other true contenders this season, according to Jackson’s theory.

The Nuggets are attempting to be the fourth team to break the mold. Denver is looking to join the Rockets, Pistons and Heat as outliers in NBA history. Houston started the 1994-95 season 35-20 and finished 47-35. Detroit finished the 2003-04 regular season 54-28 despite a 33-20 start. The 2005-06 Heat squad was the latest to break the mold. Miami turned a 30-20 start into a 52-30 season.

Denver enters Sunday’s matinee showdown with a 39-21 record, good for second in the Western Conference, after Friday’s win in Detroit.

“Really good win for us, but nothing to celebrate,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said postgame. “We have one more game on this challenging road trip, and hopefully, we can go into Boston and have a great chance against the defending champs.”

In the 2022-23 season, Denver won 46 games before suffering its 20th loss. The Nuggets finished the regular season 53-29 before going 16-4 in the playoffs to win the franchise’s first championship. Malone’s squad finished the regular season with the league’s fifth-best offensive rating (116.8) and the 15th-ranked defense (113.5).

Last season, Boston cruised through the regular season with a 64-18 record. The Celtics had the league’s best offensive rating (122.2) and the second-best defense (110.6) before going 16-3 in the playoffs.

Heading into Sunday’s matchup, the Nuggets have the league’s second-best offensive rating, 119.3, a couple spots ahead of Boston’s 118.7. The Celtics have been much better on defense, posting a 110 defensive rating, good fifth, while Denver’s 113.9 rating ranks 15th ahead of the regular season’s final meeting between the last two champions.

“We have one game left on this road trip, a very challenging game, and hopefully we can find a way to go into Boston and compete and give ourselves a chance,” Malone said.

Injury report

BOSTON

Jaylen Brown – questionable (right knee pain)

Jrue Holiday – doubtful (right hand mallet finger)

Kristaps Porzingis – doubtful (non-COVID illness)

DENVER

Trey Alexander – out (G League assignment)

Vlatko Cancar – out (left knee surgery recovery)

Aaron Gordon – questionable (left ankle sprain)

PJ Hall – out (G League assignment)

DaRon Holmes II – out (right Achilles tendon repair)

Zeke Nnaji – questionable (left ankle sprain)

Peyton Watson – out (right knee sprain)