The Denver Nuggets are coming off a frustrating loss that saw their coach call them out in the locker room afterwards. After about two weeks of inconsistent play, the Nuggets have fallen out if the second seed. Their opponent tonight? The team that leapfrogged them, the Houston Rockets. After stumbling a bit themselves, the Rockets have won nine straight and look every bit like a team poised for a long playoff run. Their core is young, talented and anchored by All Star big man Alperen Sengun. Tough one tonight.
The Essentials
Who: Denver Nuggets (44-27) at Houston Rockets (46-25)
When: 5PM MDT
Where: The “no trust me bro, this 30 year old light truck with 300k miles is totally worth $20,000! They hold their value!” center. Houston, TX.
How to watch/listen: Denver Stiffs does not condone piracy, unless it’s the romanticized 17th century type (if you ain’t eating rats and staving off scurvy we don’t want to hear about it) KTVD My20, Altitude +, NBA League Pass for those not in the Nuggets market. Show up in a Nuggets jersey, promise to give effort on defense and box out and Michael Malone will probably put you in the game.
Rival blog: The Dream Shake
The Matchup
| Position | Nuggets | Rockets | Advantage |
| PG | Russell Westbrook | Fred VanVleet | Even |
| SG | Christian Braun | Dillon Brooks | Even |
| SF | Peyton Watson | Jalen Green | Rockets |
| PF | Michael Porter Jr. | Amen Thompson | Even |
| C | Aaron Gordon | Alperen Sengun | Rockets |
| Bench | Jalen Pickett, Zeke Nnaji, Spencer Jones, Vlatko Cancar | Jabari Smith Jr., Steven Adams, Tari Eason | Rockets |
Injury report: Christian Braun – probable (foot), Aaron Gordon – probable (calf & ankle), Jamal Murray – probable (ankle), Nikola Jokic – out (ankle), Julian Strawther – out (knee), DaRon Holmes II – out (achilles); Reed Sheppard – out (thumb), N’Faly Dante – out (G-League), Jack McVeigh – out(G-League), David Roddy – out (G-League), Nate Williams – out (G-League).
The Three Things
The thing to watch for: Defense
The Nuggets defense has been bad all season, but it’s been particularly rough on this road trip. Denver held an opponent under 120 just once in the past four games and surprise, surprise, it’s the only one that they won. Nobody is expecting the Nuggets to turn into a shut down defensive team overnight, but they have got to find a way to offer some sort of resistance to dribble penetration, close out on the three point line, challenge shots at the rim and secure defensive rebounds. Without Jokic and against Houston, a team that does play good defense regularly, you can’t simply rely on outscoring your opponent.
The thing to remember: The time for figuring it out is over
Coach Malone said after the game on Friday night that he had delivered a straight forward message to the team and we’ll see who took it to heart. The Nuggets will once again be down Nikola, they are once again on the road and they are once again facing one of the hottest teams in the league. The deck is stacked against them. However, it’s the last game of the trip, if you find a way to win tonight you go back to Denver with a 2-2 record on the trip and that’s something I think everyone will take given the caliber of opponents and the injury to Nikola. Lose tonight, particularly if it is in frustrating, blowout fashion, and you start to question whether or not this team will even have homecourt advantage or be able to advance in the first round. If ever the Nuggets needed a big time win, it’s tonight.
The thing to bet: Nuggets moneyline (+220)
Maybe it’s blind optimism, maybe I’m just really desperate for a win, or maybe the one consistent thing about this team is they respond when they are counted out. For whatever reason, sure, I’m going to say go for double the money on a Nuggets victory tonight.
