“He understands that to be a winner, you have to be a team, and he has fit into that Robin role,” Alex English said. “… He has fit in it well. He could easily have been Batman.

If the Nuggets don’t at least reach the NBA Finals, it would represent a bigger missed opportunity than the Broncos falling to the Patriots in the AFC Championship.

How the Nuggets will spend the All-Star break, from Cabo to the 3-point contest to quality time with man’s best friend.

Spencer Jones went into the All-Star break without being converted to a standard contract, but the Nuggets survived Memphis for a 122-116 win Wednesday.

“We are not in a state of denial,” general manager Josh Byrnes said.

“You don’t want to peak too early and hit kind of the downslope of it,” Johnson said. “So if these injuries happen now, it’s better than them happening in April.”