The Denver Nuggets stagger into Milwaukee to face the Bucks in a nationally televised game that may find Denver without even more of its stars. The Nuggets will already be missing Nikola Jokic, Cam Johnson and Christian Braun as they work their way back from injuries, but with Denver’s frantic schedule of 6 games in 8 nights and both Jamal Murray and Peyton Watson looking banged up last night, who knows what players will actually get on the court for the Nuggets.
The Nuggets beat the Bucks a couple of weeks ago in Denver, 108-104 despite 31 from Giannis behind a strong 23 point effort from Aaron Gordon at center, with 19 from Peyton Watson and Tim Hardaway Jr. sniping for 25 off the bench. Jamal Murray didn’t play in that one, and with Jonas Valanciunas just returning last night from his calf injury Denver may be short-handed at center once again. The injury-weary Nuggets face a Bucks team that has Giannis Antetokounmpo questioning their chemistry and calling out selfishness publicly. Can the Nuggets squeak out another victory or will the Bucks have a healing moment against the undermanned Denver squad?
The Basics
Who: Denver Nuggets (30-15) at Milwaukee Bucks (18-25)
When: 7:30 PM MST
Where: Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee
How to watch/listen: Altitude TV / League Pass, Amazon Prime Video
Rival Blog: Brew Hoop
Injury Report | Nuggets: Tamar Bates—out (foot); Christian Braun—out (ankle); Cameron Johnson—out (knee); Nikola Jokic—out (knee)
Milwaukee Bucks: Kevin Porter Jr.—out (oblique); Taurean Prince—out (neck surgery); Myles Turner—day-to-day (Ankle)
The Three Things
The thing to watch for: Will the Nuggets choose to rest? This game against the Bucks is the second of a back-to-back, Denver’s third game in four nights and sixth game in eight nights. They won last night with Jamal Murray having hip and hamstring issues listed, and with Peyton Watson crashing to the floor and rolling around in pain not once but twice. Aaron Gordon and Jonas Valanciunas are still working back from injury. The Nuggets could very well choose to try a deep bench night and rest up for Sunday against the Memphis Grizzlies. The league doesn’t like that on nationally televised games like this one on Prime, but since Denver’s available players still haven’t made all-star teams the rule against benching stars doesn’t affect them at all, even though Jamal Murray will almost certainly be one this year and has a chance at an All-NBA team if he keeps playing like this. The DaRon Holmes / Hunter Tyson front court is much less interesting for viewers, so this might be another game for the sickos, but Denver is trying to hang on until Jokic comes back hopefully as soon as next week. Getting some rest is part of that, so I don’t expect everyone to play. Buckle up for the next bump in the injury-laden road.
The thing to remember: Denver can win without rebounding, but not without shot-making – but maybe this game is the exception to the rule. Denver has been blitzed on the boards in nearly every game without Nikola Jokic. They are 8-5 without him precisely because Jamal Murray and Tim Hardaway Jr. have been lethal from deep and Peyton Watson has leveled up from everywhere on the court. Tim has been a shooting disaster for the last couple of games though, as all this increased playing time may be catching up with him. Jonas Valanciunas helped turn the tides on the glass last night, while the Bucks are last in the league in offensive rebounding, and next to last in total rebounds. Part of that is because they have the second-highest three-point percentage, so there are fewer long offensive boards to be had. But if Denver can force some misses, can they grab the caroms and start on the break? They looked exhausted last night against the Washington Wizards but had enough in the tank late to drag out a victory. Any win in Milwaukee would be a team effort both on the glass and at the rim to make up for tired shooting legs and missing players.
The thing to bet: Man, this is a terrible thing to ask in a game where I don’t think a lot of Nuggets play. Over on Jalen Pickett points? It’s a sickos betting game for sure, be careful out there.
