After what Nikola Jokic himself called a “professional” performance in blowing out the Golden State Warriors on a national broadcast, the Denver Nuggets have a quick turnaround as they host the triage unit known as the Indiana Pacers. The Pacers have had maybe the worst injury luck in the league, carrying over from Tyrese Haliburton’s Achilles injury in last year’s playoffs. The Pacers traded with the hapless Pelicans to get Indiana’s own first-rounder back in next year’s draft and with the injury situation the tank is rolling at full speed for Indiana. But after a big conference game – and early revenge contest – for the Nuggets in front of a national audience, can Denver focus again and take care of business? Winning the big matchups doesn’t matter if you drop the easier ones – they all count the same in the standings. Nuggets head coach David Adelman talked after the game about running the whole homestand and to “micromanage the season.” Maintaining focus will be big tonight.
The Basics
Who: Denver Nuggets (6-2) vs Indiana Pacers (1-7)
When: 7:00 PM MDT
Where: Ball Arena, Denver CO
How to watch/listen: Altitude/ + / Radio. Say you’re bringing more ice and bandages for the Pacers – you could probably walk in with 5 more people.
Rival Blog: Indy Cornrows
Injury Report: Nuggets: Zeke Nnaji – probable (ankle), Pacers: Andrew Nembhard – questionable (shoulder), Quenton Jackson – out (hamstring), Obi Toppin – out (hamstring), Bennedict Mathurin – out (toe), TJ McConnell – out (toe), Johnny Furphy – out (ankle), Kam Jones – out (back), Tyrese Haliburton – out (Achilles).
The Three Things
The thing to watch for: Full lineup production
The Pacers have the third-worst bench net points in the league – which is not at all surprising considering their expected bench is all starting thanks to injuries, so they’re having to go deep on the roster with ill-suited lineups. Denver’s bench put up 50 points, 17 rebounds and 8 assists last night, and gave Denver’s starters most or all of the fourth quarter off. The Nuggets have two seven-footers now who can dominate the glass and have shooting touch. They have defenders and shooters and the best offense in the league despite slower starts to the season by Cam Johnson and Christian Braun, who are combining for 20 points on just over 17 shots a game. But with Tim Hardaway Jr. and Jonas Valanciunas chipping in 20 combined themselves and both Bruce Brown and Peyton Watson functioning as game two-way players and transition mavericks, the Nuggets have plenty of firepower.
The legs may not be there for three point shots tonight. Denver may not have its full sprint game on display on the first back-to-back of the season for them, but what they need to have is a full team contribution to the effort. Against the Warriors, Denver won every quarter. Sustained excellence requires repetition – it’s time to do it again.
The thing to remember: Pacers have a full gas tank
This is the first game of a back-to-back for Indiana on their West Coast swing, as they head to the Bay Area to face the Warriors tomorrow, but they’ve had a few days to rest up before this contest. Denver has struggled at times this year containing aggressive rebounders and second-chance points, and the Pacers lead the league in boards – partly because the lineup they can run out is the worst shooting team in the NBA. They are the worst from two-point range and third-worst from three, They are bottom 5 in assists despite taking the most field goal attempts. Life is hard out there for Indiana, but they are going to attack and get up shots and crash the glass. They also give up a ton of rebounds however, so if Denver focuses on holding the Pacers to one shot they should be able to handle the early onslaught and then wear down a desperately thin team as the game progresses. Pascal Siakam has been the key contributor for Indiana, but he can’t beat Denver alone. Focus early will be key to making this an easier night instead of a dogfight against a team hungry for a victory.
The thing to bet: Beating the spread of -11.5
The Nuggets have been blowing teams out this year. Their close contests were the first one of the year in Golden State’s home opener, and a defensive battle with the Portland Trail Blazers. This is neither a Steph-led squad juiced by the home crowd, nor a defensive stalwart. It’s never safe to go with beating the spread on a back-to-back, but Denver is deep enough and Indiana has enough missing players to believe the depth that the Nuggets invested in this offseason will pay off in a double-digit win.
