As the regular season comes to a close, the Denver Nuggets' toughest competition is a team they don't even play.

"Portland," Nuggets coach George Karl said Tuesday, "is not going to make it easy on us."

Denver is in fifth place in the Western Conference, 1 1/2 games ahead of Portland.

The Blazers have eight games remaining and only three are on the road (against New Orleans, Utah and, in the final game of the season, Golden State). But four of Portland's five home games are against playoff teams in the Thunder, Mavericks, Lakers and Grizzlies.

As for the Nuggets, they start with a home-and-home set against the Kings. Then they face four playoff teams: at the Lakers, home against the Thunder, at the Mavericks and then at the Thunder. They finish with home games against Minnesota and Golden State and a road game against Utah.

"The playoffs begin right about now," said Karl. "There's going to be a game almost every night that has a playoff intensity to it because of the playoff ramifications."