The Denver Nuggets are hoping to pick up right where they left off before this 8 day break for the All-Star game as they host the Charlotte Hornets. Denver is on an eight-game winning streak with stars Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray firing on all cylinders. The week off hopefully helped several of their banged-up rotation members as well, and since this is Denver’s only game against a sub-.500 opponent the rest of the month it’s one the Nuggets need to lock down. The Hornets are currently fourth in the lottery standings, one back in the wins column of second-place New Orleans and third-place Utah after last night’s win against the Lakers. They will be on the second night of a back-to-back, returning from Los Angeles, so everything is in place for the Nuggets if they approach the game the right way. There is no incentive for their ownership to win, but players always want to win – as shown dramatically in Charlotte’s victory over L.A. – and if Denver takes them lightly they could stumble back from the break. Hopefully the Nuggets take this game seriously because their need to maintain playoff position in the Western Conference down the stretch run is serious indeed.
The Essentials
Who: Denver Nuggets (36-19) vs Charlotte Hornets (14-39)
When: 7PM MST
Where: The Can. Denver, CO.
How to watch/listen: Altitude TV (now on Comcast!), Altitude+, NBA League Pass for those not in the Nuggets market, Altitude Radio 92.5FM.
Rival blog: At The Hive
Injury report: Aaron Gordon – probable (calf management), Jamal Murray – probable (knee), Michael Porter Jr. – probable (hamstring), Peyton Watson – out (knee), Vlatko Cancar – out (knee), DaRon Holmes II – out (achilles); LaMelo Ball – probable (ankle), Mark Williams – probable (conditioning after having his trade rescinded and making the Hornets and Lakers look foolish), Tre Mann – out (disc), Brandon Miller – out (calf), Scoot Henderson – out (wrist), Josh Okogie – out (hamstring), Grant Williams – out (ACL).
The Three Things
The thing to watch for: Russ minutes
Russell Westbrook is off the injury report after missing every February contest with a hamstring injury. He had to leave the win against the Philadelphia 76ers early on January 31st so his first game action in almost 3 weeks may show a little rust, but we can always count on Russ to play the game his way. In this case that almost certainly means sprinting the court at full speed and firing up the crowd – which means I hope his hamstring is well and truly healed. Hamstrings can be tricky, but if he’s right again then he can only help the Nuggets as they get healthy and organize their rotational for maximum effect in the playoffs.
Will he start? No idea. I think Denver has looked pretty good in his absence, as the eight-game winning streak would attest, but those were not challenging teams. Of course, neither should the Hornets be, so if getting him back into a bench rhythm against an easier opponent is the best option then I hope Malone takes it. I know he likes maximizing the Russ / Nikola minutes, but Jokic works fine with or without Russ and the Nuggets really need to figure out how they’re going to run their bench against tougher opponents – of which they’ll see plenty the next several games after this one.
The thing to remember: Run them out of the gym
Yes, the Nuggets are in their first game back and may not have their conditioning in tip-top shape. That said, they live at altitude while the Hornets played a hard-fought game in Los Angeles in the first game after a week off and then have to fly back across a time zone to a game starting an hour earlier. The Nuggets themselves have talked about how a West Coast-to-Denver back to back can be one of the hardest ones they deal with, and it’s no easier for Charlotte. Denver needs to gas the Hornets early and see how hard they really want to play for all 48 minutes. Christian Braun and Russell Westbrook need to be on their running game, see if they can break some spirits. Everything for the next few weeks will be much harder so Denver setting the tone in this one and making the Hornets dance to their tune is very important. These are the ones Denver must have for seeding – hopefully they feel the same way.
The thing to bet: Nikola Jokic over 24.5 points (-120)
Jokic had 28 points, 13 rebounds and 17 assists the last time he played the Hornets, and they haven’t gotten healthier or better since then. Williams is a nice center in the making but he’s their best shot at slowing Jokic down and that shot is long indeed. After him there’s our old friend Jusuf Nurkic who is just as likely to get himself in foul trouble as he is to make an impact, but Jokic enjoys playing against his old friend. Charlotte can’t really afford to bring double and triple teams to Nikola – he’ll just shred them. Jokic might not play the 4th quarter again, but he’s still scored 26+ points in every game of this 8-game winning streak. If you think Nurkic and Williams together can slow him then by all means don’t bet a triple-double… but I would still take the over on Jokic points.
