Nuggets Keen To Pick Up Pace

After slumping to third straight loss, Denver host Indiana still vying for a play-off place

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DENVER - The Denver Nuggets will be desperate to arrest their potentially terminal form slide in the National Basketball Association (NBA) when they host the surging Indiana Pacers on April 6 (April 7, Singapore time).

After spending much of this season vying for the second position in the Western Conference, Denver (47-31) have slipped below the Los Angeles Lakers into the fourth spot. The Nuggets can conceivably sink as low as eighth — and relegated to the play-in tournament — a possibility coach Michael Malone is well aware of.

"I've been saying that for a while," he said. "I think people think I'm crazy, I think our players think I'm crazy.

"I don't know how often our players look at the standings or fully understand head-to-heads, tiebreaks... I don't think they understand the strength of our schedule compared to some of these teams behind us, and how well some of these teams are playing."

Denver's losing streak stretched to three games after succumbing 118-104 to the Golden State Warriors in San Francisco on April 4.

The Nuggets coughed up a whopping 25 turnovers, continuing a concerning trend that has symbolised their slump.