The Denver Nuggets aided their chances of making the playoffs at the beginning of April by taking advantage of Dwight Howard’s absence from the Orlando Magic lineup.

Even with a postseason berth wrapped up, don’t expect the Nuggets to go easy on the Howard-less Magic during Sunday night’s rematch at the Pepsi Center.

Denver (35-28) matched a franchise record by clinching a ninth consecutive playoff berth with Saturday’s 118-107 win in Phoenix. The Nuggets made nine straight postseasons from 1981-82 to 1989-90.

Ty Lawson had 29 points and 10 assists during his team’s eighth victory in 12 games, a stretch that includes a 104-101 win over Orlando on April 1.

Howard missed that game with back spasms and is now out for the year after having surgery to repair a herniated disc and remove fragments Friday.

“I think we’ve been operating with the expectation that we wouldn’t have him back,” coach Stan Van Gundy said. “I don’t think this was unexpected.”

The Magic (36-27) are 3-6 without their All-Star center and three-time NBA defensive player of the year, who was averaging 20.6 points and a league-best 14.5 rebounds.

Orlando scored a combined 13 points over the final 7:52 of regulation and overtime during a 117-107 defeat in Utah on Saturday. The Magic gave up at least 100 points for the fourth time in five games.

“We just cannot guard,” Van Gundy said. “I don’t think it is that our guys are not trying, I don’t know what it is, but we cannot guard anyone. We can’t guard anyone … Our defense is disturbing to say the least.”

Orlando is all but locked into the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference as it trails Atlanta by two games with three remaining for both teams, and leads New York and Philadelphia by three.

Denver, meanwhile, is tied for sixth in the West with Dallas, which has just one game remaining. The Mavericks hold the tiebreaker, but the Nuggets have three contests left.

“We are going to try to win all three of them. There won’t be any rest going on here,” coach George Karl said. “We are not in that mode. We are into getting better and coming together. It is a young team that will have to learn how to win in the playoffs. On the job training, but it has been done before.”

Lawson will try to help the Nuggets with another high-scoring performance. The point guard averaged 24.5 points on 58.3 percent shooting over his last four games and is 9 for 14 from 3-point range, including a 5-for-5 performance in Saturday’s win.

Lawson had a team-leading 25 points during the win in Orlando and Arron Afflalo chipped in 22. Jameer Nelson had a season-high 27 for the Magic during the loss and averaged 20.3 over his last four games after scoring a team-best 23 during Saturday’s loss.

Denver has split its last four meetings with Orlando but has won seven of the last eight home matchups. A 111-94 victory on Dec. 14, 2010, was the Nuggets’ second in a row at the Pepsi Center.

The Denver Nuggets aided their chances of making the playoffs at the beginning of April by taking advantage of Dwight Howard’s absence from the Orlando Magic lineup.

Even with a postseason berth wrapped up, don’t expect the Nuggets to go easy on the Howard-less Magic during Sunday night’s rematch at the Pepsi Center.

Denver (35-28) matched a franchise record by clinching a ninth consecutive playoff berth with Saturday’s 118-107 win in Phoenix. The Nuggets made nine straight postseasons from 1981-82 to 1989-90.

Ty Lawson had 29 points and 10 assists during his team’s eighth victory in 12 games, a stretch that includes a 104-101 win over Orlando on April 1.

Howard missed that game with back spasms and is now out for the year after having surgery to repair a herniated disc and remove fragments Friday.

“I think we’ve been operating with the expectation that we wouldn’t have him back,” coach Stan Van Gundy said. “I don’t think this was unexpected.”

The Magic (36-27) are 3-6 without their All-Star center and three-time NBA defensive player of the year, who was averaging 20.6 points and a league-best 14.5 rebounds.

Orlando scored a combined 13 points over the final 7:52 of regulation and overtime during a 117-107 defeat in Utah on Saturday. The Magic gave up at least 100 points for the fourth time in five games.

“We just cannot guard,” Van Gundy said. “I don’t think it is that our guys are not trying, I don’t know what it is, but we cannot guard anyone. We can’t guard anyone … Our defense is disturbing to say the least.”

Orlando is all but locked into the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference as it trails Atlanta by two games with three remaining for both teams, and leads New York and Philadelphia by three.

Denver, meanwhile, is tied for sixth in the West with Dallas, which has just one game remaining. The Mavericks hold the tiebreaker, but the Nuggets have three contests left.

“We are going to try to win all three of them. There won’t be any rest going on here,” coach George Karl said. “We are not in that mode. We are into getting better and coming together. It is a young team that will have to learn how to win in the playoffs. On the job training, but it has been done before.”

Lawson will try to help the Nuggets with another high-scoring performance. The point guard averaged 24.5 points on 58.3 percent shooting over his last four games and is 9 for 14 from 3-point range, including a 5-for-5 performance in Saturday’s win.

Lawson had a team-leading 25 points during the win in Orlando and Arron Afflalo chipped in 22. Jameer Nelson had a season-high 27 for the Magic during the loss and averaged 20.3 over his last four games after scoring a team-best 23 during Saturday’s loss.

Denver has split its last four meetings with Orlando but has won seven of the last eight home matchups. A 111-94 victory on Dec. 14, 2010, was the Nuggets’ second in a row at the Pepsi Center.

The Denver Nuggets aided their chances of making the playoffs at the beginning of April by taking advantage of Dwight Howard’s absence from the Orlando Magic lineup.

Even with a postseason berth wrapped up, don’t expect the Nuggets to go easy on the Howard-less Magic during Sunday night’s rematch at the Pepsi Center.

Denver (35-28) matched a franchise record by clinching a ninth consecutive playoff berth with Saturday’s 118-107 win in Phoenix. The Nuggets made nine straight postseasons from 1981-82 to 1989-90.

Ty Lawson had 29 points and 10 assists during his team’s eighth victory in 12 games, a stretch that includes a 104-101 win over Orlando on April 1.

Howard missed that game with back spasms and is now out for the year after having surgery to repair a herniated disc and remove fragments Friday.

“I think we’ve been operating with the expectation that we wouldn’t have him back,” coach Stan Van Gundy said. “I don’t think this was unexpected.”

The Magic (36-27) are 3-6 without their All-Star center and three-time NBA defensive player of the year, who was averaging 20.6 points and a league-best 14.5 rebounds.

Orlando scored a combined 13 points over the final 7:52 of regulation and overtime during a 117-107 defeat in Utah on Saturday. The Magic gave up at least 100 points for the fourth time in five games.

“We just cannot guard,” Van Gundy said. “I don’t think it is that our guys are not trying, I don’t know what it is, but we cannot guard anyone. We can’t guard anyone … Our defense is disturbing to say the least.”

Orlando is all but locked into the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference as it trails Atlanta by two games with three remaining for both teams, and leads New York and Philadelphia by three.

Denver, meanwhile, is tied for sixth in the West with Dallas, which has just one game remaining. The Mavericks hold the tiebreaker, but the Nuggets have three contests left.

“We are going to try to win all three of them. There won’t be any rest going on here,” coach George Karl said. “We are not in that mode. We are into getting better and coming together. It is a young team that will have to learn how to win in the playoffs. On the job training, but it has been done before.”

Lawson will try to help the Nuggets with another high-scoring performance. The point guard averaged 24.5 points on 58.3 percent shooting over his last four games and is 9 for 14 from 3-point range, including a 5-for-5 performance in Saturday’s win.

Lawson had a team-leading 25 points during the win in Orlando and Arron Afflalo chipped in 22. Jameer Nelson had a season-high 27 for the Magic during the loss and averaged 20.3 over his last four games after scoring a team-best 23 during Saturday’s loss.

Denver has split its last four meetings with Orlando but has won seven of the last eight home matchups. A 111-94 victory on Dec. 14, 2010, was the Nuggets’ second in a row at the Pepsi Center.

The Suns picked a heck of a time to revert to being the team they spent the past two months escaping.

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Nuggets 118, Suns 107 | Box score | Twitter updates

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Denver has a way of doing that to them. For all of the Suns’ progress to becoming a playoff contender, they simply surrender to the Nuggets.

Now the Suns must surrender what they have been against Denver and embrace what they have been against Utah. The Nuggets shredded the Suns’ defense in Saturday’s 118-107 victory at US Airways Center, but the Suns can turn to Tuesday’s game at Utah for hope against a Jazz team they have defeated twice.

The Suns’ playoff clinching formula is no different than it was entering Saturday: If the Suns win the next two games, they make the playoffs. After Tuesday night’s road finale at Utah, they return home Wednesday night for the season finale against San Antonio. Neither effort ought to resemble Saturday’s, or the Suns’ status will resemble last season’s April look.

“It’s disappointing to lose, but we’re still in great position,” Suns guard Steve Nash said. “We’ve given ourselves a chance to control our own destiny still, so we’ve got to regroup and have a great performance in Salt Lake City.”

The Suns (33-31) have won after each of their previous four losses this month. The previous three of those also were double-figure losses, but Saturday’s crumble was worse, with Denver scoring 68 points in the paint, more than any opponent this season. Denver took 59 shots in the paint and only 28 outside it but still needed a big third quarter to blow open a two-point halftime lead.

The Suns also lost Channing Frye to a right-shoulder subluxation in the second quarter, leaving him questionable for Tuesday after it was popped back. Some range of motion returned. Grant Hill also missed a fourth consecutive game because his lateral movement remained uncomfortable due to right-knee soreness he had since leaving an April 14 game. That knee underwent arthroscopic surgery for a meniscus tear March 30. Frye and Hill are questionable for Tuesday.

Saturday’s loss gave the Nuggets six consecutive wins against Phoenix, or eight if two foretelling preseason games were counted. That is when Denver ran over and past the Suns, making it appear that the uptempo torch had been passed. Saturday was a reminder, as Denver used weak-side leak-outs and 17 Suns turnovers to score 26 fast-break points to the Suns’ two.

“They just killed us on transition,” Suns center Marcin Gortat said. “They were way too quick for us, way too explosive. They had way more energy than we had. I don’t think we took what Coach (Alvin Gentry) said seriously. He told us before the game that we have to get back and make sure we stop the drives to the paint. We didn’t execute the game plan well.”

Denver, which clinched a playoff berth Saturday, opened the second half with a 23-6 run to extend a 60-58 halftime lead to 83-64. Lawson made three 3-pointers during the stretch, but Denver also outworked Phoenix for a fast-break layup and two offensive follows. All the while, the Suns’ hot 3-point shooting start (five for six) was followed by 11 consecutive misses that lasted until the fourth quarter. By then, the Suns had fallen behind by as much as 21.

Suns guard Shannon Brown shot like Lawson early, making all three of his first-quarter 3s when the Suns led 34-30 with nine Nash assists. The fourth of Nash’s 13 assists put him in fifth place on the NBA career assist list, passing Oscar Robertson.

Brown made a career-high six 3s on 12 tries but shot 4 of 12 inside the arc and 1 for 8 in the decisive third quarter. Denver never cooled, shooting 55.2 percent and posting the third-highest scoring total against Phoenix this season.

Report

Key player

Denver point guard Ty Lawson made all five of his 3-pointers and finished with 29 points and 10 assists.

Key moment

Denver opened the second half with a 23-6 run that included three Lawson 3s.

Key number

68: Denver’s points in the paint, the most the Suns have surrendered in a game this season.

View from press row

There was insult added to injury in both of Suns power forward Channing Frye’s shoulder injuries in the past 13 months. Whether it was Kevin Durant causing a right-shoulder dislocation that sidelined Frye for five games last season or Danilo Gallinari’s strike that caused a subluxation in the same shoulder Saturday, Frye was robbed of the decency of a foul call on both. The calls were missed, but if he can’t play Tuesday at Utah, the Suns would miss him even more. He has made 14 of 25 3-pointers in the past three games vs. Utah.

The Suns picked a heck of a time to revert to being the team they spent the past two months escaping.

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Nuggets 118, Suns 107 | Box score | Twitter updates

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Denver has a way of doing that to them. For all of the Suns’ progress to becoming a playoff contender, they simply surrender to the Nuggets.

Now the Suns must surrender what they have been against Denver and embrace what they have been against Utah. The Nuggets shredded the Suns’ defense in Saturday’s 118-107 victory at US Airways Center, but the Suns can turn to Tuesday’s game at Utah for hope against a Jazz team they have defeated twice.

The Suns’ playoff clinching formula is no different than it was entering Saturday: If the Suns win the next two games, they make the playoffs. After Tuesday night’s road finale at Utah, they return home Wednesday night for the season finale against San Antonio. Neither effort ought to resemble Saturday’s, or the Suns’ status will resemble last season’s April look.

“It’s disappointing to lose, but we’re still in great position,” Suns guard Steve Nash said. “We’ve given ourselves a chance to control our own destiny still, so we’ve got to regroup and have a great performance in Salt Lake City.”

The Suns (33-31) have won after each of their previous four losses this month. The previous three of those also were double-figure losses, but Saturday’s crumble was worse, with Denver scoring 68 points in the paint, more than any opponent this season. Denver took 59 shots in the paint and only 28 outside it but still needed a big third quarter to blow open a two-point halftime lead.

The Suns also lost Channing Frye to a right-shoulder subluxation in the second quarter, leaving him questionable for Tuesday after it was popped back. Some range of motion returned. Grant Hill also missed a fourth consecutive game because his lateral movement remained uncomfortable due to right-knee soreness he had since leaving an April 14 game. That knee underwent arthroscopic surgery for a meniscus tear March 30. Frye and Hill are questionable for Tuesday.

Saturday’s loss gave the Nuggets six consecutive wins against Phoenix, or eight if two foretelling preseason games were counted. That is when Denver ran over and past the Suns, making it appear that the uptempo torch had been passed. Saturday was a reminder, as Denver used weak-side leak-outs and 17 Suns turnovers to score 26 fast-break points to the Suns’ two.

“They just killed us on transition,” Suns center Marcin Gortat said. “They were way too quick for us, way too explosive. They had way more energy than we had. I don’t think we took what Coach (Alvin Gentry) said seriously. He told us before the game that we have to get back and make sure we stop the drives to the paint. We didn’t execute the game plan well.”

Denver, which clinched a playoff berth Saturday, opened the second half with a 23-6 run to extend a 60-58 halftime lead to 83-64. Lawson made three 3-pointers during the stretch, but Denver also outworked Phoenix for a fast-break layup and two offensive follows. All the while, the Suns’ hot 3-point shooting start (five for six) was followed by 11 consecutive misses that lasted until the fourth quarter. By then, the Suns had fallen behind by as much as 21.

Suns guard Shannon Brown shot like Lawson early, making all three of his first-quarter 3s when the Suns led 34-30 with nine Nash assists. The fourth of Nash’s 13 assists put him in fifth place on the NBA career assist list, passing Oscar Robertson.

Brown made a career-high six 3s on 12 tries but shot 4 of 12 inside the arc and 1 for 8 in the decisive third quarter. Denver never cooled, shooting 55.2 percent and posting the third-highest scoring total against Phoenix this season.

Report

Key player

Denver point guard Ty Lawson made all five of his 3-pointers and finished with 29 points and 10 assists.

Key moment

Denver opened the second half with a 23-6 run that included three Lawson 3s.

Key number

68: Denver’s points in the paint, the most the Suns have surrendered in a game this season.

View from press row

There was insult added to injury in both of Suns power forward Channing Frye’s shoulder injuries in the past 13 months. Whether it was Kevin Durant causing a right-shoulder dislocation that sidelined Frye for five games last season or Danilo Gallinari’s strike that caused a subluxation in the same shoulder Saturday, Frye was robbed of the decency of a foul call on both. The calls were missed, but if he can’t play Tuesday at Utah, the Suns would miss him even more. He has made 14 of 25 3-pointers in the past three games vs. Utah.