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It's becoming a Michael Cooper tradition, this mediocrity before turning it up at season's end and the playoffs.

Last season's Albuquerque Thunderbirds finished with eight consecutive wins and a NBA-Development League championship.

The current T-Birds, though still sitting below .500 at 24-26, are riding a three-game winning streak into tonight's first round of the D-League playoffs against the Colorado 14ers.

The No. 3 seed in the Western Division must add three more games to its win streak to capture a title in the six-team, single-elimination playoff.

Cooper calls this "d‚ja vu" - as in, another title is coming if Albuquerque keeps playing with cohesiveness.

"We're peaking at the right time again," Cooper said. "Once you start getting your (expletive) kicked, enough is enough. You have to start winning. And once the seed takes watering and watering, then it starts living on its own and feeding off the elements. That's what's happening here."

Albuquerque is 5-1 this season against No. 2 Colorado, including a 121-112 win on Friday that clinched the playoff spot.

The winner plays at No. 1 Idaho for the right to represent the West in the championship game.

Last year's bunch finished the regular season 26-22 with a home game at Tingley Coliseum in the first round of a four-team playoff. This team, with the worst record among six playoff teams, must win three straight on the road. The league expanded from eight teams to 12 this season.

Cooper revels in the pressure-filled opportunity.

"Pat Riley always said you have to do it on the road," Cooper said. "We have no choice. You have to come out and play."