DENVER (AP) — The Denver Nuggets haven't been the same since blowing a chance to beat their nemesis in double-overtime on April 2.
They've dropped three straight since a 140-139 heartbreaker that the Minnesota Timberwolves stole from them after Russell Westbrook missed an uncontested layup to seal it, then fouled Nickeil Alexander-Walker on a 3-pointer with a tenth of a second left and Denver clinging to a one-point lead.
Alexander-Walker sank two free throws to run Minnesota's winning streak over Denver to six games and ruin Nikola Jokic's career-best 61-point performance that night.
The Nuggets lost to San Antonio the next night with all five starters sitting out, then dropped a game at Golden State despite a 44-point first quarter. On Sunday night, they blew a 13-point first-half lead and committed three crucial turnovers down the stretch in their 125-120 loss to the short-handed Indiana Pacers that saddled the Nuggets with their first four-game skid of the season.
“I don't know if I would say there's been a hangover,” coach Michael Malone said. “We were up tonight. We got up by 13. We weren't able to hold on. We were up in Golden State, weren't able to hold on. So, I don't know if it's a hangover necessarily, but whatever it is we've got to find a way to get this out of our system.”
They'll likely have to do it without point guard Jamal Murray, who missed his fifth consecutive game with a pulled right hamstring Sunday night.
Asked before tip-off Sunday if he expects Murray to be back in action by the playoffs, Malone said, “hopefully he’s able to be back by then.”
But where will the Nuggets be?
Anywhere from Ball Arena to a play-in game.
Denver is still in fourth place in the Western Conference playoff race but just a-half game out of eighth place with three games remaining.
“We've lost four in a row, in a bad moment, so I think we're a little bit down,” Jokic said. “But a win can always cheer us up or make us feel better about ourselves.”
Christian Braun, who scored a career-best 30 points against the Pacers but got tangled with Jokic on a crucial turnover with 15 seconds left and the Nuggets down two, said he trusts the Nuggets can still straighten things out in time to make a run in the postseason.
“We get to the playoffs I know this team can compete with anybody," Braun said. "We've got to go in there with momentum. We've got to go in there playing the right way. We've got to find a way to find some toughness.
“We've got to get back to who we are and we've got to find ourselves in these last three games. Like I said, it's not over or anything like that. But we do got to get some momentum.”
The Nuggets visit Sacramento on Wednesday night, then host the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday night before wrapping things up Sunday at Houston.
Before the game, Malone said the reason he's stuck with Westbrook despite his blunders of late is that he looks at his whole body of work this season, not the last week's foibles.
“We wouldn’t be where we are right now, in fourth place with four games to go, if it wasn’t for Russell this year,” Malone said.
After the game, the Nuggets said Westbrook had been admonished by the league for declining post-game interviews and that he was available in the locker room.
But Westbrook's comments recalled Marshawn Lynch's “I'm just here so I won't get fined,” routine.
Q: Is there a sense of urgency in this locker room to avoid the play-in?
“I don't know, man, you know, unsure.”
Q: Malone mentioned your value as a veteran. What can you draw from to help this team?
“I don't know. I don't have the answer for you, man. I wish I did. But unfortunately, I don't.”
Q: What's frustrating you most right now?
“Um, probably just losing.”
Q: Where's the confidence this group can figure something out these next three games?
“I hope it's high. I can't speak for everybody in the locker room. But my head stays high, get ready for Wednesday.”
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Indiana Pacers guard T.J. McConnell, right, drives past Denver Nuggets guard Christian Braun, left, in the second half of an NBA basketball game Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic reacts after missing last-second, 3-point basket- attempt in the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Indiana Pacers, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Denver Nuggets guard Russell Westbrook reacts after hitting a 3-point basket against the Indiana Pacers in the second half of an NBA basketball game Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs signed Justin Tucker to their practice squad on Wednesday, giving the five-time All-Pro kicker a second chance in the NFL after serving a 10-game suspension last year for violating the league's personal conduct policy.
Tucker spent 13 seasons with the Ravens, earning a reputation as one of the league’s best kickers, before his tenure in Baltimore ended in controversy. The Baltimore Banner reported in 2025 that he had been accused of sexual misconduct by 16 massage therapists at high-end spas, accusations that Tucker called “unequivocally false” and “tabloid fodder.”
The Ravens released him that May. And while Tucker was never criminally charged or sued in civil court, the NFL suspended him for the first 10 games of the 2025 season, which Tucker served as a free agent; he became eligible for reinstatement last November.
“He's done his suspension, you know? Took care of that business," Chiefs coach Andy Reid said Wednesday, “and I'll leave it at that.”
Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker has struggled mightily the past two seasons, missing a pair of kicks in Sunday’s loss in Seattle, and the signing of Tucker provides some competition for him — even though Reid said Butker would kick this Sunday in Denver.
The Chiefs also worked out Ben Sauls and Harrison Mevis before giving Tucker the open spot on their practice squad.
“Listen, Harrison, we love. I've told you that before. He's one of my favorite guys," Reid said, “and sometimes things don't go quite the way you want, and you work on that. He understands the business and how it works. We had a practice squad position open. Butker gets it. He knows that's part of the business. He's struggling a little bit and he gets it.”
Butker has missed 10 field-goal attempts and five PATs since the start of last season, the most in the league, and they've come at quite a cost. He's the third-highest paid kicker in the league, carrying the sixth-highest base salary on the Kansas City roster.
“Obviously he didn't do very good this past game. I'm stating the obvious there," Reid said, "and he's been up and down. This happens. And you know, anybody else in this business, myself included, you have to pick it up and do better. He gets that.”
Tucker, who turns 37 next month, hadn't been much better before he was released by Baltimore. He missed 10 kicks during the 2024 season, by far the most during a career that has included seven Pro Bowl selections.
The Chiefs have proven a willingness to give players — and kickers, for that matter — a second chance.
Last year, they brought back running back Kareem Hunt, whom the Chiefs had released years earlier after security footage showed him kicking a woman in a hotel hallway. And they signed current punter Matt Araiza, who was among multiple people accused of raping a woman at San Diego State; Araiza claimed the encounters with the woman were consensual, the district attorney declined to file criminal charges, he later filed a defamation suit and pending cases were dropped with neither side admitting wrongdoing.
Asked what goes into making such decisions, Reid replied: “I try to do homework on it. See exactly what's taken place. (Tucker) served his suspension. Spent time involved in it. That's how I evaluate it.”
Tucker also has had some run-ins with his new teammates, including quarterback Patrick Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce.
Two years ago, before the AFC championship game in Baltimore, the kicker was warming up in an area where Mahomes typically does his pregame work. The quarterback asked Tucker to move his gear, he responded by moving it ever-so slightly and Kelce promptly kicked his footballs and helmet away, leading to an exchange of words between them.
The Chiefs won the game 17-10, sending them back to the Super Bowl, where they beat San Francisco for their second straight title.
“It wasn't like we had any beef that moment,” Mahomes said Wednesday. “At the end of the day, we're just playing a game. You want to compete and you want to win. But it's not like we had a longstanding beef that carries on. We won that game.”
Butker also has courted controversy during his time in Kansas City, though it's been political rather than legal.
Several years ago, he made what he called a “very intentional” foray into politics when he delivered a polarizing commencement address at Benedictine College in which Butker said, among other things, that most of the women receiving degrees were probably more excited about getting married and having children than beginning a professional career.
Butker later formed a political action committee for the 2024 election to encourage Christians to vote for “traditional values.”
NOTES: Chiefs RT Jaylon Moore (concussion) and WR Rashee Rice (hamstring) returned to practice Wednesday. ... DT Omarr Norman-Lott (torn ACL) was designated to return from the physically unable-to-perform list, opening a 21-day practice window. At that point, the Chiefs must put him on the active roster or place him on injured reserve.
See AP’s full NFL coverage here
FILE - Baltimore Ravens place kicker Justin Tucker, right, kicks a field goal with Baltimore Ravens punter Jordan Stout, left, holding against the Buffalo Bills during an NFL divisional playoff football game, Jan. 19, 2025, in Orchard Park, N.Y. (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus, File)
FILE - Baltimore Ravens place kicker Justin Tucker walks back to the locker room after an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Chargers, Nov. 25, 2024, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong, File)
