If the Nuggets don’t like their situation at the start of the playoffs, they very well may have the upcoming road trip to blame.

With the NCAA Tournament taking over Ball Arena this week, the Nuggets are headed to Golden State, Los Angeles, Portland and Houston on a trip that starts Monday and ends Sunday. The Nuggets start Monday third in the Western Conference with a 43-25 record, the same as the second-place Rockets and fourth-place Grizzlies. The fifth-place Lakers are only a game back, while the Warriors, Monday’s opponent, sit a few games back in sixth.

Golden State is closing hard, however. The Warriors have won seven straight and 12 of their last 13 with Jimmy Butler meshing well with Stephen Curry and Draymond Green. Denver hits the road having lost three of their last five, including Saturday’s head-scratching defeat to the Wizards where the same issues persisted. Nuggets coach Michael Malone shared his message to the team prior to departure.

“When you go home and pack tonight and you think about this upcoming road trip, understand with 14 games to go and the teams that we’re playing and competing against, we can’t keep saying the same thing after every game. We got lucky last night to beat the Lakers. We got lucky to beat a team that was severely limited in terms of their normal rotation. Tonight, we didn’t get lucky,” Malone said after Jordan Poole’s 35-foot dagger drowned the Nuggets

“If you’re going to be a team that’s going to try to stay out of that play-in and be relevant, we’ve got to start playing some defense. We’ve got to stop turning the ball over. We’ve got to start rebounding. It’s game 67, and I’ve been saying the same things the whole year. Hopefully, we can find a way to do that.”

Washington used a familiar formula to beat the Nuggets. The Wizards attempted 11 more 3-pointers than Denver and made seven more than the Nuggets. Denver committed 18 turnovers that led to 21 of Washington’s points, and the Wizards used 13 offensive rebounds to score 18 second-chance points.

“We cannot have that comfort zone that we can just go in the playoffs, because I think we are not playing good. I think we are lucky that we are third,” Nikola Jokic said.

“We are not playing good. Hopefully, we’re going to figure it out somehow – or not.”

In the 13 games since the All-Star break, Denver’s defensive rating of 120 ranks 25th out of 30 teams. Only the Mavericks, Hornets, Suns, 76ers and Spurs have been worse during that stretch. The Nuggets are 7-6 since the break.

“If we’re going to be a team that’s serious about making the postseason and being a team that can win a round and win another round. If we don’t start defending for four quarters, we’re never going to get that opportunity,” Malone said.

When the Nuggets return to Denver, they will embark on the final 10 games of the regular season. They have the seventh-hardest remaining strength of schedule, per tankathon. The standings could look a lot different at the end of the trip with Jokic, Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon and Christian Braun dealing with injuries. Braun said he would be ready to go to start the trip.

“I’m just excited for another opportunity to get better. We’ve got a really good team that we’re going to play against. They’re hot. They’ve been hot since they made the changes. We’ve got to be really good going into that game,” Braun said.

“We’ve got some habits we need to build. We’ve got some things we’ve got to get back to. We’ve got a really good team and a really important, four-game road trip that we need to go 4-0 on.”

BREAKOUT BOX

Injury Report

DENVER

Nikola Jokic – questionable (right elbow contusion/left ankle impingement)

Jamal Murray – questionable (right ankle sprain)

Aaron Gordon – questionable (right calf injury management/left ankle sprain)

Christian Braun – probable (left foot inflammation)

Julian Strawther – out (left knee sprain)

Trey Alexander – out (G League assignment)

DaRon Holmes II – out (Right Achilles tendon repair)

GOLDEN STATE

Stephen Curry – questionable (right low-back strain)

Brandin Podziemski – out (bilateral low-back strain)

Quentin Post – questionable (right ankle soreness)