The NBA’s equivalent of the Carabao Cup from England is back, and the In-Season Tournament is well under way. The colorful courts, the saturated hardwood, the Emirates branding, you know it, I know it – it certainly exists. Personally, I don’t care for the In-Season Tournament. I think it’s tacky, and that it’s just regular season basketball. Now, I don’t dislike it, it’s still basketball. Just don’t expect me to be flying a banner even if the Nuggets win it.

But, hey, some people enjoy it and more power to them. We’ll see if the Nuggets are some of those people, or if they just slack off. Last year, they made no significant progress towards winning it. They’ve never been a team to take the early regular season very seriously. With Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon both dealing with injuries this early in the season, even though Jamal is back, I would expect them to not push super hard unless necessary to get wins. For this specific game, Nikola Jokic might miss tonight for personal reasons. The Nuggets are 43.7 points per 100 possessions worse with him off the floor compared to him on it.

The Essentials

Who: Denver Nuggets (7-3) vs New Orleans Pelicans (3-9)

When: 6:00 PM MST

Where: Smoothie King Center, New Orleans, LA

How to watch/listen: Altitude TV where available. Altitude+. NBA League Pass for those not in the Denver market. Altitude Radio 92.5FM

Injury Report: DaRon Holmes (Achilles) – OUT, Aaron Gordon (Calf Strain) – OUT, Vlatko Cancar (Ankle) – OUT, Nikola Jokic (Personal Reasons) – QUESTIONABLE; Dejounte Murray (Hand) – OUT, CJ McCollum (Adductor) – OUT, Herb Jones (Shoulder) – OUT, Jordan Hawkins (Back) – OUT, Zion Williamson (Hamstring) – OUT, Jose Alverado (Hamstring) – OUT

The Three Things

The Thing To Watch For: Who plays at center?

If Nikola Jokic misses this game it’ll leave a noticeable gap in production, obviously. Currently he’s playing his best season that he ever has, and is in line to receive a fourth straight MVP at this rate. So that leaves the questions, who plays at center for the Nuggets? Typically Aaron Gordon is the answer to that question. However, he’s also injured. So take your pick between Dario Saric, DeAndre Jordan, and Zeke Nnaji. Those will be the names in contention for a starter spot, and for Dario specifically it could be a big opportunity. He’s been getting DNPs and ever since the Nugget’s benched him their defense has gotten significantly better. If he gets extended run, this could be a get right spot for him. In terms of Zeke Nnaji, he’s also been very disappointing when he has played. It hasn’t been much of a sample size for either of them though, so might as well see.

The Thing To Remember: They can still win.

Despite potentially missing Nikola Jokic, the Nuggets could win this one. Obviously you’d rather have Nikola Jokic, but the Pelicans are missing 6 of their rotation guys. They’ve been one of the worst teams in the league and the Nuggets need to stack wins. So if Jamal Murray comes out and looks normal, they can be pretty okay. Michael Porter Jr. and Christian Braun have both been excellent in the past stretch of the season. They will need those two to bring everything they have, and Jamal needs to become someone who can run an offense effectively for Jokic to be able to miss games.

The Thing To Listen To: Ride Captain Ride by Blues Image

For now, take some time and smell the roses. Let it ride. Let the Nuggets control where the ships go. They typically only go as far as their captain. Nikola Jokic has won it all, so the Nuggets are looking to do it again. This is just a part of the ride. So get in the car, roll your windows down, and enjoy the ride.