The Nuggets looked to be in control against a Wemby-less Spurs on Friday night only to give up a 44-point third quarter and any hope of competing for this season’s NBA Cup. Despite great offensive games from Cam Johnson and Jamal Murray, the 139-136 loss happened once again due to a lack of want-to and execution on the defensive end, giving a professional NBA basketball team the space needed to get their shooters rhythm.
While the Nuggets handled the Suns in their first game (133-111), a lot has happened since. Phoenix comes into Saturday’s road/home back-to-back after nearly knocking off the Oklahoma City Thunder with a 37-point fourth quarter that came up just short. Booker, Brooks, and Co. have put together a surprising 12-8 record with volume outside shooting and scrappy defense while the Nuggets have regressed after winning 10 of 11. Both teams have key injuries to their starting five and will likely need to struggle through some fatigue as they vie for contention in the brutal Western Conference.
The Basics
Who: Denver Nuggets (13-5) at Phoenix Suns (12-8)
When: 7:00 PM MST
Where: PHX Arena, The Desert
How to watch/listen: Altitude / + / 92.5 FM
Rival Blog: Bright Side of the Sun
The Matchup
| Position | Nuggets | Rockets | Advantage |
| PG | Jamal Murray | Collin Gillespie | Nuggets |
| SG | Cam Johnson | Devin Booker | Suns |
| SF | Peyton Watson | Dillon Brooks | Toss-up |
| PF | Spencer Jones | Royce O’Neale | Suns |
| C | Nikola Jokic | Mark Williams | Nuggets |
| Bench | Bruce Brown, Jonas Valanciunas, Tim Hardaway Jr. | Jordan Goodwin, Oso Ighodaro, Nigel Hayes-Davis | Nuggets |
Injury report: Nuggets | Aaron Gordon – Out (hamstring); Christian Braun – Out (ankle); Julian Strawther – Day-to-Day (back);
Suns | Jalen Green – Out (hamstring); Ryan Dunn – Day-to-Day (wrist); Isaiah Livers – Day-to-Day (hip); Grayson Allen – Day-to-Day (quad)
The Three Things
The thing to watch for: Will the Nuggets be content to have a shooting contest?
Maybe Devin Booker having a 70-point game on his resume will finally motivate the Nuggets to at least attempt to play competitive team defense again after a much better start to the season. Obviously, Aaron Gordon and Christian Braun being on the shelf for a significant amount of time hasn’t helped their defensive cohesion. But replacement starters Peyton Watson and Spencer Jones are defensive specialists that should be capable stand-ins on that end.
Despite Jalen Green (out) and Grayson Allen (day-to-day) likely missing this one, the Suns put up 119 in Oklahoma City not 24 hours ago. The Suns have the fifth most points in the league and are top 5 in both threes made and three-point percentage while generating the same number of steals per game as OKC (10.6). A defensive effort like we saw against Chicago, Sacramento, or the Spurs could easily spiral into a run-and-gun disaster that could leave Nikola with only two shots in the second half again, but involuntarily this time.
The thing to remember: Collin Gillespie used to be a Nuggets’ point guard …
As Jalen Pickett continues to rack up DNPs, former Nugget prospect Collin Gillespie has been a significant contributor for the Suns since Grayson Allen went down with a quad. His line against OKC was not just adequate but elite against that defense: 24 points (9-of-16 FG, 6-of-11 3PT), 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 4 TOs. A lot of Nuggets fans were high on Gillespie and disappointed that the team didn’t keep him, but good on Collin for taking advantage of a major opportunity with a young team still finding its identity. The Suns could continue to be a great fit for a promising talent.
The thing to bet: Over 231.5 total points (-114)
Since the Nuggets haven’t committed to playing defense, it’s not hard to anticipate a high scoring shootout in the desert on the second of a back-to-back for both teams. A total of 232 seems low to be without that context. I’d take the over.
