The Denver Nuggets play once again tonight. After defeating the Los Angeles Lakers’ B squad last night, the Nuggets now face the NBA’s B squad: the Washington Wizards. Believe it or not, there was once a time when the Wizards were good but the contract and subsequent trade of Bradley Beal has steeped Washington into a deep rebuild. They’re currently in year four of that rebuild and have mustered just fifteen wins on the year. There’s some young pieces for sure. Second overall pick Alex Sarr hasn’t lit the world on fire this season but there’s undoubtedly potential there. Bilal Coulibaby is a guy who can be an elite role player on any roster, though he’s out for the season now with a hamstring injury. There’s just not enough talent overall though which has left the Wizards jockeying to land at the top of the lottery once again in hopes of finding a superstar to ignite their rebuild and help them move to the next stage.
The Essentials
Who: Denver Nuggets (43-24) vs Washington Wizards (14-51)
When: 7PM MDT
Where: The Can. Denver, CO.
How to watch/listen: Denver Stiffs does not condone piracy, unless its the romanticized 17th century type. Altitude, Altitude +, NBA League Pass for those not in the Nuggets market, Altitude Radio 92.5FM. Show up in your basketball gear and the Wizards probably give you a tryout on the spot.
Rival blog: Bullets Forever
The Matchup
| Position | Nuggets | Wizards | Advantage |
| PG | Jamal Murray | Jordan Poole | Nuggets |
| SG | Christian Braun | Khris Middleton | Even |
| SF | Michael Porter Jr. | Julian Champagnie | Nuggets |
| PF | Aaron Gordon | Kyshawn George | Nuggets |
| C | Nikola Jokic | Alex Sarr | Nuggets |
| Bench | Peyton Watson, Zeke Nnaji, Russell Westbrook | Marcus Smart, Bub Carrington, Corey Kispert, Richaun Holmes | Even |
Injury report*: Nikola Jokic – probable (ankle & elbow), Jamal Murray – probable (ankle), Aaron Gordon – questionable (calf), Julian Strawther – out (knee), DaRon Holmes II – out (achilles); Bilal Coulibaby – out (hamstring), Saddiq Bey – out (knee), Malcolm Brogdon – out (ankle), Jaylen Martin – out (G-League), JT Thor – out (G-League).
The Three Things
The Thing to Watch For: Minutes
The Nuggets played a B2B last weekend, then played the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday, and now are on a B2B again. Of the five games in seven nights, only one is against lottery fodder and that’s today. The Nuggets more or less have went all out this week. They brought Aaron Gordon back from his lingering calf injury last night, they’ve shortened the rotation to eight players and the rotation has played deep into almost every game. It’s the stretch run and Denver knows it but they also can’t forget last season and how exhausted they were chasing seeding down the stretch. If there’s a night to get guys a rest it’s tonight before Denver goes on a four game road trip featuring three Western Conference playoff teams.
The thing to remember: You saw this team once…ya lost
The Wizards are certainly in the running for the worst team in the NBA. Hell, they’re in the pole position. They have the worst record in the NBA and also the worst point differential in the NBA. And yet…Denver lost to this team back in December. The Nuggets got essentially a G-League team last night and almost lost. They get a chance to do better tonight against similar competition. They’ve been very strong on back to backs and one has to hope last night and the memory of that game in December will make sure Denver doesn’t overlook this team. However, overlooking teams has been a bugaboo of the Nuggets for a long time, so color me cautious.
The thing to bet: Jamal Murray over 2.5 threes (+100)
Murray and Nikola Jokic are the only ones the sportsbooks are giving us any action on. So sure, why not, Jamal to hit three threes for even money.
