How to fake it: Denver Nuggets open NBA playoffs

State of play: The Nuggets are headed to their fourth-straight postseason, but they are the underdog, a sixth seed playing No. 3 Golden State.

• Most experts are picking against our team, and FiveThirtyEight's fancy math machine gives the Nuggets a 0.2% chance to win the NBA championship.
• Golden State sharpshooter Steph Curry is battling an injury, but hopes to return for the first game of the series.

• Meanwhile, Denver's not at full strength, either. Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. are still sidelined and Facundo Campazzo was suspended one game after a shoving incident in the regular-season finale.

What to chant: MVP! MVP! Center Nikola Jokic is campaigning for back-to-back Most Valuable Player trophies after finishing in the league's top 10 for points, assists and rebounds per game.

• His leading rival is the Philadelphia 76ers' Joel Embiid.

Conversation starter: The question to ask is how far Jokic can carry the team essentially on his own.

• Sound smart: Jokic is facing his toughest defensive challenge yet in the Warriors' Draymond Green.

How to change the conversation: If the game is going south for the Nuggets, shift the discussion to dunk on San Francisco, the Warriors' hometown.

• Bay Area residents look down their noses at Denver's tech sector, even as they move here and jack up our home prices. (Or so we pretend.)
• The joke: Why is no one having sex in California? Because they're all (expletive) here.