After a quick one game trip to the West Coast the Denver Nuggets find themselves back within the friendly confines of Ball Arena to face the Memphis Grizzlies. It will be the first game of a five game homestand that may very well settle the playoff seeding questions around Denver. While the rest of the homestand is littered with playoff teams, it starts with the down bad Grizzlies. After being the two seed in the West last year, Memphis’ season really never got off the ground this year. Star guard Ja Morant was suspended for the first twenty-five games for repeatedly waving firearms around on social media and then succumbed to a season ending shoulder injury shortly after his return. Other injuries have littered their roster all season and despite still having a premier big man in Jaren Jackson Jr. there just hasn’t been enough to put together anything resembling a successful season in Memphis.
The Essentials
Who: Denver Nuggets (50-21) vs Memphis Grizzlies (24-47)
When: 7:00PM MDT
Where: The Can. Denver, CO.
How to watch/listen: Denver Stiffs does not condone piracy….unless it’s the romanticized 18th century type. Altitude TV where available (Altitude TV is on DirecTV, DirecTV Stream and Fubo TV). NBA League pass for those not in the Nuggets market. Altitude Radio 92.5. Dress up as a back and ankle healing guru and they probably wave you right into the locker room.
Rival blog: Bluff City Media
The Matchup
Position | Nuggets | Grizzlies | Advantage |
PG | Jamal Murray | Jordan Goodwin | Nuggets |
SG | Kentavious Caldwell-Pope | Desmond Bane | Even |
SF | Michael Porter Jr. | GG Jackson | Nuggets |
PF | Aaron Gordon | Santi Aldama | Nuggets |
C | Nikola Jokic | Jaren Jackson Jr. | Nuggets |
Bench | Reggie Jackson, Christian Braun, Peyton Watson, Justin Holiday, DeAndre Jordan | Jake LaRavia, Scottie Pippen Jr., Maozinha Pereira, Dejon Jarreau | Nuggets |
Injury Report: Nikola Jokic – questionable (back), Jamal Murray – questionable (ankle), Zeke Nnaji – out (adductor), Vlatko Cancar – out (knee); Desmond Bane – questionable (back), Jake LaRavia – questionable (illness), Brandon Clarke – doubtful (achilles), John Konchar – doubtful (heel), Luke Kennard – out (personal), Ja Morant – out (shoulder), Derrick Rose – out (groin).
The Three Things
The thing to watch for: Nikola Jokic vs Jaren Jackson Jr.
Only one premier matchup to speak of tonight and that’s at the center spot (provided Nikola Jokic plays tonight of course). While it’s been a forgettable season for the Grizzlies, JJJ still remains one of the premier bigs in the league. The reining the Defensive Player of the Year is averaging a career high in scoring as he takes on more of Memphis’ offensive load with all their injuries and that has come at a price of his defense. Still, Jackson is by far the best player the Grizzlies will put on the court tonight and has the defensive acumen to at least attempt to slow Jokic down. He’s done a decent job of that in the past, though like anyone who plays Joker, Jackson still gets got on occasion. Noteworthy though that Jokic hasn’t scored more than 26 points against Jackson in about two years. With JJJ having to dedicate so much to the defensive end on this matchup one wonders if he, and therefore the Grizzlies as a whole, will suffer a bit in terms of offensive production.
The thing to remember: health remains the most important
Denver chose to rest their stars for the Portland game and it very nearly cost them a victory. The Grizzlies are another team that I won’t be shocked to see Denver roll out a less than a complete roster against. I think Jokic likely plays as his injury is more about management than anything else. Jamal Murray though I won’t be surprised to see sit tonight, and that’s ok. Even if Denver loses this game tonight it won’t matter a ton if they take care of business the rest of the week. The Nuggets have another massive contest looming with the Minnesota Timberwolves at the end of the week and two other games this week against playoff teams. It’s better to let your top guys get right by sitting out tonight and have them ready for the rest of the week.
The thing to bet: Jaren Jackson Jr. under 21.5 points (-110)
Going to ride with the theory that Jackson will have to focus more on defense tonight and that will end up with a light scoring night from him. It should also be noted that Jackson has only scored 22 points or more against Nikola twice in their 16 matchups, though again we have to account for the context that this specific matchup features a Grizzlies team with no other good players to speak of. Still, throw in the chance for an early night because of a blowout and I’ll take it.
Jamal Murray thinks Malone needs load management also, do yoga and practice zen meditation.
Tonight’s game is important for a few reasons, all of them mostly cosmetic: Get to 30 games over 500, get a full game up on OKC for the conference lead, show that our G Leaguers can beat their G Leaguers on our home court, show the Grizz how far they’ve fallen since actually (sort of) challenging us for best in the west last season, and finally, reduce the magic number for best regular season record to just 7 wins out of the next 10 to finally erase the GK, CA… Read more »
super cosmetically important
and cosmicly
I never seent this.
Wild stuff: In Toronto’s game against the Los Angeles Clippers on Jan. 26, there was reportedly “increased betting interest on the under for Porter props,” which were set at 5.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists. There was also an over/under set at 0.5 for Porter’s made three-pointers. Porter ended up playing just four minutes in that game before being removed for what the Raptors said was a re-aggravation of an eye injury he suffered four days earlier, so the under hit on each prop bet. DraftKings Sportsbook reported the… Read more »
Pete Rose be like “what took you guys so long?”
per espn: jamal out, AG out, mpj and jokic GTD
Apparently AG, Jamal, and Zeke out and the rest are in per Malone
So no one wants to talk about Brandon Clarke I see haha. Today is going to be a snooze fest. I do hope Jokic plays otherwise it’s going to be like watching March Madness with CSU who cant score
Uh oh
Yikes
Ouch. MPJ’s slump incoming.
IIRC he did not show any sign of a slump when his other brother had a much bigger legal problem. He got a couple of days off, but played good after that.
Michael Resilient (er) Junior 🙂
Bet on the MPJ over 3PM…that used to be the best prop bet that would always score.
Shouldn’t have bet on his brother…bring Scott Foster down with you we all know he bets too
Man, the gambling can of worms is open.
Guaranteed, and will get more sinister. Just greed easy buck bullshit.
How can Chris Paul be our backup without the contract?
You would like to see him as a bench option? I dunno man…long in the tooth
Again with the picture. Once in a while is perfectly fine but all the time is what bothers me lol.
The throwback pictures have been used for a long time. I don’t think they will be changing that.
Majority of people seems to either like it or don’t care so I’ll be fine with it. What’s weird to me is that some people seems to be offended yesterday when I’ve mentioned that the reason behind it is pure nostalgia because why otherwise you would “celebrate” unsuccessful past when present is so much better.
History is alway informing the present, whether it was glorious or not.
Didn’t know posting pictures of old nuggets is celebrating the past lol. I actually would like for them to post even further back. Our jerseys for sure here were better
I’d would be too but 2000’s era is when writer’s fandom started so I get it.
I know how this all sounds lol so I need to say that I really enjoy Zack’s write ups, podcast and all the hard work he’s doing to manage this site (minus pics 🙂 )
Birdman was cool. I actually like these throwback pics, it shows the long way the Nuggets took to get where are they now.
I loved observing his metamorphosis into a an illustrated man. I had quite a head start on him but was still regularly being tattooed during those years. I do think he overdid it with the neck tattoos but that’s just my personal taste 😁
MPJ is listed as questionable with illness and Gordon with plantar fasciitis. Possibly means Jokic and Murray play and MPJ and AG sit
Man you made my heart skip a beat. I’m not a doctor but I think what the injury report lists “fascia strain” on the right plantar is different than “plantar fasciitis.”
Yes. Me too.
Sorry I didn’t know the difference
Lol it’s ok. Easy mistake to make and same body parts involved. I just think the severity and prognosis for returning to 100% is quite different.
Update: sounds like I was incorrect and they’re one and the same.
It is plantar fasciitis but everyone’s experience with plantar fasciitis is different. I think it’s more a way to get AG rest today and I hope I’m right. AG needs a rest game
Today only, the starting 5 for your denver nuggets: Reggie Jackson, Christian Braun, Justin Holiday, Peyton Watson, and Deandre Jordon!
Ah I see. I was afraid of severity of plantar fasciitis that makes guys miss a month or look like a shell of themselves while they try to play through it.
But I agree with your overall outlook and that’s what I was thinking, MPJ and Gordon get a rest game after doing their duty in Portland.
Jamal Murray thinks Donald Trump wants to be a fasciitis dictator.
yikes. plantar fasciitis took forever to not bother me when running, and I can only imagine the stress basketball puts on your foot. albeit he has best medical care $ can provide..
Jamal Murray says if the Griz aren’t playing anyone, then he doesn’t have to play.
DEN is 22nd on that list with -143 net fta. The only PO team that does not emphasize 3. On the contrary. This needs to be investigated. I firmly believe that a group of refs agreed to allow 4 fouls on Jok’s defender per possession and only the fifth to be called. On every fuckin possession Jok gets fouled once off the ball by impeding the movement and once on the ball by grabbing and pulling his uniform. That s what we clearly see. And there are at least as… Read more »
Wow. All that help and all that health this season and they can still barely muster an above .500 record. How can any objective person look at that team and think they’re good enough to actually compete against us?
It is worth about 5 PPG for the Lakers.
Ah yes, the Chris Andersen “Sons of Anarchy” years
So, after all the upsets in the NCAAB, the Sweet 16 consists of
4 number 1 seeds,
4 number 2,
2 number 3
2 number 4
2 number 5
1 number 6 and 1 number 11.
Looks fairly straightforward, it even looks like the Committee did a a great job. The number 11 is NC State, a team that got hot lately and got in the tournament by winning the ACC.
I hope Murray doesn’t play. This is team doesn’t look as dangerous as the Portland game. If Jokic plays that would be great, if he doesn’t I still think we can get by. Although, I don’t know if we can count on CB having two good games in a row. MPJ should be due for a good game. No one on this roster can handle AG
If Jok plays, I would give a day off to AG. We need him rested for the Suns and Wolves.
Good call
https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/pacers-coach-says-free-throw-disparity-vs-lakers-was-impossible-to-overcome-as-la-pads-nba-leading-stat/
Pacers did that one to themselves. There were a lot of intentional fouls at the end and a lot of fouls on 3 point attempts that were actual fouls.
You watched that? Clearly you enjoy suffering. I watched the end of the OKC game because it was on NBA TV, but there was no way I was watching Lakers/Pacers.
NBA TV has an excellent score box. Clearly shows the score, how many fouls each team has (with a number instead of some dots or anything like that), bonus status, and timeouts.
I did not watch it. Reddit’s r/NBA did clown on Carlisle. There’s about two things that r/NBA hates more than most anything:
1) Refs
2) The Lakers
And when r/NBA takes the side of the refs and the Lakers over you, you know that you were wrong.
It was 31-11 going into the 4th
Pacers fouled Dinwiddie on two three point attempts, so that’s really 25-11.
Slanted? Sure.
Unexpected given that the Pacers lead the league in fouling shooters? Not so much.
I find it interesting that Brandon Clarke could be coming back today and the same court where he first tore his Achilles…also a pretty quick recovery time for the Achilles
Most of you will be excited to hear I just let Anthony Carter into the building. Gave him a loud “welcome back” and he smiled.
Isn’t he with the Heat? Not the Grizzlies? What is he doing in town?
i didn’t know he was with the grizzlies either so it was a funny surprise given the picture changes
Was with the Heat as a director of player development. Now is with the Heat. Slight promotion – moved from back of the bench to front of the bench in the hierarchy.
false. he has been on the grizzlies staff since summer 2023 https://www.si.com/nba/grizzlies/news/memphis-grizzlies-make-new-hire
“Assistant head coach – Inbounding plays”
Ouch! Good one!
What are you George “Salty” Karl
I promise you no one has ever accused me of being GK.
Sounds like something George Karl would say!
Now you are just being insulting!
You can’t be both GK and Jerry Sloan, after all
It’s because you’re Jerry Sloan. “Run a play!”
And don’t give me this business about Sloan passing away. That’s a conspiracy lie you created so you could live on quietly in the mountains.
who has had a greater incentive to make a study of such plays?
Ugh. this will haunt me forever….
Who knows what other screen names might’ve been possible for you? So much lost potential.
Derp. Meant “now with Grizzlies”
Did you tell him how many people here use him as a profile pic?
Did you tell him that he must sign in on Gravatar to change his name?
I wanted to so badly lmao
Apparently he is mine now too. And I didn’t change it.
If I’d have gone to the trouble I would have gone with Alex English or Phonz.
Did you throw a ball over his head?
New to the current stiffs site, how do I change things in my account? Especially log in name? Sorry to bug y’all but I don’t see anything…
Welcome! You can change your username and avatar through Gravatar who is partnered with WordPress. Head to gravatar.com and enter your email address and click view profile. You should already have a profile there if you are logged into this site. Once logged in click the three dots in the upper right and select “edit profile”. That will bring up a column on the left hand side of the page with some options. Click “about” and you can change your Display name. There are other options to edit in the… Read more »
Tyvm!
Testing new username
Didn’t work lol
You might have to log out and log back in. Or refresh the page.
Grizzlies wing-starters Santi Aldama and G.G. Jackson I’ve never heard of.
But Santa Esmerelda had a huge disco hit with “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood.”
Great percussion intro.
GG Jackson is pretty decent. At first I thought ESPN was making a typo for JJJ but he’s a real player, and not bad.
Hello All Stiffs, I’ve enjoyed reading your input for years, finally posting. This picture of Birdman reminds me of when I was bartending at a very popular beer bar on Blake. Got in my car to leave one day and a Hummer pulled up next to me with music and smoke pouring out at the light. Looked up and saw Birdman driving next to me, made me laugh. I love these current Nuggets! I’ve watched many eras and this is amazing.
Welcome from “The Cholera Cellar” j quinn.
On CBS’ hit-comedy “Ghosts,” this what the mansion’s basement dwellers— who largely amuse themselves by observing insects— is known as.
And what I picture the DS lurkers as doing.
Glad to know Birdman lived it up.
And welcome to the upstairs.
Birdman more than lived up to it, it was an awesome scene, he was Birdman personified heh!
I’m cool with entomology as well
I like it but am closer to Renfield in Dracula, especially played by Tom Waits
is that show actually funny?
It actually is. Only sitcom I watch. Great ghosts from a Viking to a Native American to an elitist woman who used to look down on her servants. I never miss an episode. The human couple wife can see ghosts. Her 🇮🇳 husband can’t. Its better than the British show it was inspired by. Definitely check it out before it gets “sucked off.” That’s the term for going up into heaven from their earthy limbo that can last centuries. They negotiate to see reality shows with the human couple running… Read more »
@.joe / LBL Do yourself a flavor and watch the BBC original series “Ghosts”. You can thank me later.
My little brother has a story about being passed by a giant Viking of a man on a bicycle in Wash Park. Obviously, was Birdman
Trade Proposal for the offseason:
Brookyln: Mikal Bridges
Denver: MPJ + sign & trade KCP
Who says no?
Denver
Both teams and the CBA. As always, TF can correct me if I’m wrong, but I think the money would be so uneven that I think they’d have to move Simmons first and then renounce Claxton just to get enough cap space. They’d add about $30mm in salary by swapping Bridges for MPJ/KCP.
And since the Nets org would also likely lose Claxton and whatever assets they had to attach to Simmons to get off his deal, I can’t see them being too excited about it either.
This. You could make it a legal deal by having Denver take Simmons back as well.
Which if Ben were healthy would make it less of a no from me – going from the Michael Scott No no no no no gif to just no. But as is, it’d now be two Michael Scott no gifs.
Lol
Do you represent the Nets’ interests here or what?
I would consider straight Bridges for MPJ trade, think it is fair as straight player-value is concerned, but the difference in contracts is too big (about $13M per year) so Brooklyn would need to include someone else, and that’s probably where they’d say “no”.
We do
Pretty sure it’s illegal to combine players in a sign and trade.
Cannot aggregate salaries if you are a second apron team, Denver is one. Plus think the salaries have to match.
New trade limits for second apron teams:
Aggregate contracts to trade for a single player making more money
Send out cash in trades
Use trade exceptions from prior years
Take back more incoming than outgoing salary in a deal.
A team that finishes the 2024-25 season over the second apron will also not be able to trade its 2032 first-round pick.
Watched the Iowa St women’s game last night. So close. Freshwoman Audi Crooks is simply the largest female athlete I can ever recall seeing. 6’3″ so not the tallest, but largest. And she has 3 more years to learn how to do a pump fake and get better.
Reminds me a lot of Danielle Adams who came in as a freshman at 280lbs but by senior year she was down to 230lbs, a first team all-amercian and led A&M to a national championship
Once Crooks fouled out Iowa State was doomed. Their backup 5 was just not ready to play.
Plea’s Picks: MEM suits up ball boys and assistant coaches for game in DEN. DEN-15/214 I counted 12 MEM players listed as out. Desmond Bane may play. Jaren Jackson will play. MEM is 18-13 against the spread (ATS) on the road, so they are a bunch of fighters. I know nothing about GG Jackson, but apparently he’s being talked about in MEM. We might have to wait a bit to see if Jokic and Murray play. I would think not but maybe we rest Gordon, KCP and Porter this time.… Read more »
standings
I think I will wait a bit for the injury report, but yeah, 15 is a lot. 215 should be covered though
Mr. Coin Flip says Denver/under.
I’d say he is simultaneously watching Plea leave him in the dust while also feeling several others of you creeping up from behind, but the truth is, he just kind of goes through life in the most utterly insouciant manner possible.
Rec for insouciant
Considering I’m one game over .500 and there is only 11 games left I’m very tempted to not make another pick!
then you would not have full data on what you would have done. don’t be a quitter.