After a five game road trip, one that concluded much more satisfying than it began, the Nuggets return to the Pepsi Center looking to extend their win streak to a season high three games. They face the young and exciting Orlando Magic to kick off a three game home stand. One match up to look forward to is the battle of the unshooting point guards. Neither Denver’s Emmanuel Mudiay nor Orlando’s Elfrid Payton are ever going to be confused with Steph Curry. Hell, neither one will probably ever be confused with Seth Curry. However, both have shown flashes of being special distributors and floor generals in their young careers. Look for Payton to get up into Mudiay and challenge his sometimes shaky handles.
One other aspect to note – over the last two games, coach Mike Malone has opted to close out games with an all vet line up. He hasn’t reduced the minutes of Mudiay, but he’s going with Jameer Nelson to run the show. It will be interesting to see if the last two games were an aberration, or if Malone has opted to go with experience over youth in crunch time.
