Strike 1: One “Final Four” is ending. Another one – which matters a lot more around here – is about to tip off.

The Denver Nuggets are tied atop the NBA’s Western Conference, and with four games left in the regular season they control their own destiny. Win out, and they win the West.

Win out, and the Nuggets set a franchise record with 58 regular season wins. It means they would have beaten the Minnesota Timberwolves (this coming Wednesday night at Ball Arena) and finished with at least a one game edge over their up-and-coming division rival, likely putting themselves on a collision course with the team now led by the man many credit with building Denver’s championship roster, Tim Connelly. And it would be a big deal for Denver to have the home court advantage in that possible Western Conference Finals match up.

It would also mean that losing the season series to the other up-and-coming Western contender, the Oklahoma City Thunder, didn’t end up hurting the Nuggets. OKC would finish third and have to play Minnesota in the Western semi’s. Advantage Denver.

It would also set up a potential semifinal matchup with the talented but aging Los Angeles Clippers, which would certainly not be a layup, but would also have Denver as the favorite.

So yes, there’s a lot to play for.

True, Denver doesn’t have to empty the tank so to speak, but there’s not much reason to hold anything back, given the fact that they’ll have almost a full week off after the regular season ends while the NBA sorts out the “play-in” stuff. There’s plenty of rest around that corner.

The Nuggets will find out who their first round foe will be when the play in games plays out. There’s a decent chance it will be those Los Angeles Lakers returning to the Mile High for the first round. Or it could be Zion and the New Orleans Pelicans, or maybe the Sacramento Kings – who also won the season series against the defending champs – or maybe a last hurrah from Steph Curry and Co. from Golden State.

The postseason scenarios all have a compelling storyline. But first…

The hope has to be that these Nuggets – who continue to play with their food far too much for most observers – get after it from start to finish in the three games left against bottom feeders that bookend the Minnesota game. The good news: The Utah Jazz (Tuesday night) have lost 12 straight. The Nuggets blew them out, sort of, a couple of weeks ago in Denver. After building a 35-point halftime lead, that nagging habit of losing interest reared its ugly head, and head coach Michael Malone actually had to re-insert his starters to lock up the game in the fourth quarter. But that’s not the bad news. The bad news is that Denver has won exactly one game in Salt Lake City in the past eight seasons. This game should not be close – but will it?

There are two road games to finish the season (the Nuggets will pack a 22-16 road record with them to Salt Lake City on Tuesday night) at San Antonio and Victor Wembanyama on Friday before closing it out at Memphis, last season’s Western Conference No. 2 seed, on Sunday. Wemby vs. the Joker was must-see TV a few nights ago and with the Spurs playing better basketball near the end of the season, it should be once again. San Antonio would love to spoil Denver’s coronation. Same goes for the Grizzlies.

So do the Nuggets have to approach their Final Four as “win or go home” games like the NCAA tourney? Probably not. They’re safely in the top three and in a nice position. But winning the west should matter enough that they finally stop playing with their food and chew it up and swallow quickly this time.