After the last two losses against the Minnesota Timberwolves and Oklahoma City Thunder, the opening blowout victory over the Houston Rockets must seem like a distant memory to the Nuggets. Tonight, they have to turn it around against the winless Los Angeles Lakers. However, with Joffrey Lauvergne, Nikola Jokic, and Kenneth Faried all suffering from back strains, it could be a tougher task than it originally looked. It suddenly becomes extremely important that players like Emmanuel Mudiay, Gary Harris, and Danilo Gallinari do everything possible to stop penetration on the perimeter, and be willing to dig down on any big getting position in the post. Rotations will also be key. Even though Byron Scott is not the biggest fan of the three point shot, he has relaxed that view through the preseason and early regular season a bit.
The match up everyone will be watching is the two rookie pgs: Emmanuel Mudiay and D'Angelo Russell. It would be a good night for Mudiay to rediscover his aggressiveness to the rim, even with the Human Mountain Roy Hibbert manning the middle.
