DALLAS – While the numbers don’t lie, it requires more than math to compute the huge difference between where Nuggets coach David Adelman and Avalanche coach Jared Bednar stand in the pursuit of a championship.

Each and every playoff victory feels like a little miracle for Adelman, as he and the Nuggets frantically search for their lost basketball mojo.

On the other end of the spectrum, Bednar cares about absolutely nothing except winning the last game of the NHL postseason. And he will be ticked off if the Avalanche do anything less than win the Stanley Cup.

Adelman registered his first NBA playoff victory as a coach, after Denver somehow escaped Saturday with a 112-110 overtime victory at home against the Los Angeles Clippers.

Before the clock struck midnight down in Texas, after the Avs trounced Dallas 5-1, Bednar padded his résumé with playoff victory No. 50, the most by any coach to lead the franchise.

He made history. But frankly, my dear, Bednar didn’t give a damn.

“It’s great, I guess. I didn’t even know that,” Bednar said Sunday, when informed he had passed Bob Hartley as the franchise’s all-time leader in postseason victories.

“Winning is the only thing that matters to me really. I don’t give a crap about any of that other stuff. Every year I get in (the playoffs), I want to win. That’s our focus as a team, and I truly mean that. If we don’t win our last game of the year, I don’t give a sh … crap about anything else.”

During an optional practice, when Nathan MacKinnon could’ve rolled out of bed late and enjoyed a leisurely Easter brunch, he was instead out on the ice at American Airlines Center, working on technical stuff that can make the difference between hoisting the Cup or falling just short.

Looking to boost the offensive punch of Colorado’s second scoring line, MacKinnon meticulously led teammates Jonathan Drouin and Blake Nelson through a tic-tac-toe passing drill to set up one-timer shots from the face-off dot. Pucks that did not find the back of the net rattled against the end boards or glass, sending the echoes of men at work through the empty arena until the Avalanche’s best player was satisfied with the marksmanship of Nelson and Drouin.

The Avalanche are tightening the screws on all the small details to hold their bandwagon together from now until the end of June. Meanwhile, it’s interesting and revealing to note Josh Kroenke, who oversees both the hockey and basketball tenets of Ball Arena, abruptly fired coach Michael Malone on the eve of the playoffs because the vibe had turned ugly.

It was a desperate move made to inject some fun back into the Nuggets locker room and squeeze a little juice from championship aspirations already dying on the vine at the outset of spring.

“Stay connected in tough times,” Adelman said after Denver rallied from a 15-point deficit to beat the Clippers.

It has been his mantra since April 8, when Adelman was asked to step up and replace Malone. The interim coach understands the challenge ahead against Kawhi Leonard, James Harden and a Los Angeles team that nearly stole home-court advantage from the Nuggets in the opener of this seven-game series.

“It’s going to be extremely tough,” Adelman warned.

While attempting to channel the chaos created by Russell Westbrook in a way that can consistently help the Nuggets win and massaging the ego of Michael Porter Jr. when a starter who tends to pout is left to gather dust on the bench, Adelman is also trying to fix a leaky Denver defense and pump up the team’s deficiency at shooting the three-ball.

It’s the basketball version of meatball surgery at a time of year when there’s no margin for error, all at the same time Adelman begins to find his voice as head coach at the NBA level.

It’s a nearly impossible task.

“Experience,” Bednar said, “is the ultimate teacher.”

Barring the miracle of those young guns from Oklahoma City forgetting how to shoot straight, the Nuggets aren’t getting out of the Western Conference’s side of the NBA tourney bracket. Even if he survives and advances past the Clippers, Adelman’s first playoff run will be over in a handful of weeks.

Like it or not, this is a time for Adelman to learn in the school of hard knocks

It’s far different for the Avalanche’s veteran on the bench. Bednar is coaching in the NHL playoffs for the eighth time. Failure is not an option.

It’s winning time, and the urgency of that clicking clock dictates every little move Bednar makes.