After getting thrashed in the opening quarter against the Mavericks in the team’s last meeting on Sunday, the Nuggets put together a great performance through the rest of the game to win for the third game in a row. Tonight, they finish out their little baseball series against the Mavs, and look to make it four. Despite some questionable performances, the Nuggets have strung together a solid stretch of results from their games. They’ve won 7 of the last 10 that they’ve played, and 6 of the last 8.
All in all, for where the rhetoric around the team is (including from me), the Nuggets have a rock solid record at the moment. They’re currently the fourth seed in the Western Conference, and already a game and a half up on the Mavericks. If they were to win tonight, that puts them up two and a half over Luka and Kyrie’s team, and three games ahead in the loss column. It would also win them the season series, which would be a big get in terms of tie breakers at the end of the season.
With Luka Doncic still on the sidelines, and Kyrie Irving questionable still – this will be a big game for the Nuggets to pull ahead of a legitimate threat in the West. An opportunity like that isn’t something they can afford to let slide. However, that would be in character for them this season. There’s not a ton that the Nuggets have done against top teams to make fans feel like they can hold it down in the post-season. Beating a Luka-less Mavs, isn’t exactly that either, but they’d at least be getting the job done.
The Essentials
Who: Denver Nuggets (23-15) vs Dallas Mavericks (22-17)
When: 7:30 PM MST
Where: I’m sorry but this game is overbooked…Arena. Dallas, TX.
How to watch/listen: TNT, Altitude TV where available, Altitude+, Altitude Radio 92.5FM, hop the fence and tell them you’re Jerry Garcia’s roadie.
Rival Blog: Mavs Moneyball
The Matchup
| Position | Nuggets | Mavericks | Advantage |
| PG | Jamal Murray | Spencer Dinwiddie | Nuggets |
| SG | Christian Braun | Klay Thompson | Mavericks |
| SF | Michael Porter Jr. | Naji Marshall | Nuggets |
| PF | Aaron Gordon | P.J. Washington | Nuggets |
| C | Nikola Jokic | Dereck Lively II | Nuggets |
| Bench | Russell Westbrook, Julian Strawther, Peyton Watson, Jalen Pickett, DeAndre Jordan | Jaden Hardy, Quentin Grimes, Daniel Gafford, Maxi Kleber, Olivier-Maxence Prosper | Even |
Injury report: Nikola Jokic – probable (illness), Aaron Gordon – probable (calf), Jamal Murray – probable (knee), Julian Strawther – probable (knee), Vlatko Cancar – out (knee), DaRon Holmes II – out (achilles), PJ Hall – out (G-League), Spencer Jones – out (G-League); Luka Doncic – out (calf), Kyrie Irving – questionable (back), Dante Exum – out (wrist).
The Three Things
The Thing To Watch For: Who’s the fifth starter?
With Aaron Gordon coming back after having a somewhat extended absence for the second time this season, the Nuggets have some questions that need to be answered. One of them is who the fifth starter should be. Early season form would’ve told you that Christian Braun would be the easy answer. He was shooting the ball really well, and while his defense had waned from what we’d seen in his first two seasons – he found ways to make it work.
Lately though, he has taken a dip in form. What was a confident start to the season in terms of shooting has quickly regressed to the mean. On the whole season, he’s shooting 36.5% from outside on low volume. Far from what the Nuggets were used to when they had Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. Since the start of December though, he’s only made 12 3 pointers at all. It’s been 25% since December 1st, on just 2.4 attempts per game.
Russell Westbrook, on the other hand, has seen his form ascend to levels that wouldn’t have been expected of him when he first signed with the Nuggets this offseason. He’s put together a litany of strong performances as a starter. The Nuggets are 13-4 when he’s in the starting lineup, and while his shooting is no better than Christian Braun’s (honestly, it might be worse), he does bring an umph to the Nuggets that they don’t possess otherwise. The energy, the intensity, the rim pressure, and the drive. He still doesn’t have an off switch at the age of 36, and it doesn’t seem like that’s getting added anytime soon. Christian remains the starter for now, but I’d keep an eye out for that.
The Thing To Remember: The Mavs Still Are Good
To steal from Zach’s last preview, let’s just hammer home that the Mavericks are still a team to respect. Klay Thompson is still a sharpshooter from outside, PJ Washington is still a high level starter, and the Nuggets have been ones to come up short at times this season with losses against the likes of the Pelicans and Wizards. Now, get the idea of a magician and a magical pelican out of your head and turn it to realizing that there’s still talent for the Mavericks. That they really shouldn’t be taken lightly, and there you go. That’s your thing to remember.
The Thing To Listen To: Mamaloi by The Doobie Brothers
