The Denver Nuggets stagger into Washington at 11-9 to face the 2-18 Wizards. If Denver’s record is alarmingly pedestrian then Washington’s is terrifyingly poor, having gone through both poor roster construction and a rash of injuries – also being at the head of the class in this year’s draft definitely has its advantages. Still, Denver has a habit of playing down to the level of its opponents especially on the road, needing overtime to survive both the Toronto Raptors and the Brooklyn Nets on an earlier East Coast road trip. The Nuggets are having trouble with consistency on offense, with bench minutes, and with attention to detail but this is one victory they absolutely have to nail down if they want to get back on the right track.
The Essentials
Who: Denver Nuggets (11-9) at Washington Wizards (2-18)
When: 5:00PM MST
Where: Capital One Arena, Washington DC
How to watch/listen: Denver Stiffs does not condone piracy. Altitude TV where available. NBA League Pass for those not in the Nuggets market. Altitude 92.5 FM. Explain you’re Jamal Murray’s new shot doctor.
Rival Blog: Bullets Forever
Injury report: Aaron Gordon – probable (right calf strain), Jamal Murray – questionable (right hamstring inflammation), Dario Saric – questionable (left ankle sprain), Vlatko Cancar – out (the worst luck ever and also a knee), Daron Holmes II – out (achilles); Corey Kispert – out (left ankle sprain), Kyshawn George – out (left ankle sprain), Malcolm Brandon – out (left hamstring inflamation), Saddiq Bey – out (ACL surgery), Kyle Kuzma – out (left rib sprain), Tristan Vukcevic – out (knee contusion)
The Three Things
The thing to watch for: Can Denver start to build good habits?
I’m not saying this is an automatic win, but the Wizards are the worst team in the league and down a handful of rotation players to boot. This is a game where good habits – getting back correctly in transition, taking care of the ball, rebounding as a team, etc – would go a long way to securing the victory. It would be nice not to need a 40 / 20 triple double from Nikola Jokic just to squeak by in this one, and all of the lapses that the Cleveland Cavaliers were able to take advantage of in Denver’s last loss provided a bright spotlight on areas for improvement.
The thing to remember: This time of year is about process
The Nuggets have had the fifth-toughest schedule so car in the NBA and have not been ready for it unfortunately. Yes, Jamal Murray has not looked good – he often does not to begin the year. He played 42 minutes last game and is now questionable with hamstring inflammation, and in order for him to play better he needs to get healthier, not more broken. If Jokic is an all-terrain vehicle, then Murray is a Ferrari that’s always in the shop, and they need to treat him as such while they fine-tune the performance instead of having him do donuts in the mud. These are the games when Malone has to remember that.
The Nuggets have to take care of the day-to-day process so that the results can change. If there were ever a game to be able to get out some of the bench guys who have been stuffed into a closet, this would be one. The starters can’t keep banking these heavy minutes and the defensive rotations have to get right. Malone has a tough job and I know this is a road game rather than a home one, but the Nuggets need to come out from the jump with the right mindset and start banking wins as the schedule gets easier. They don’t have to be perfect, but being able to trust one another as they right the ship would be a good start.
The thing to bet: Nikola Jokic points + Rebounds over 43.5 (-110)
The Wizards have exactly no one to slow Jokic down. He has also been on a scoring run with so many Denver players in a rut, and the Wizards are not a good rebounding team. Yes, they have Jonas Valanciunas to fill the role of “Eastern European who can get Jokic drunk the night before the game” but Denver doesn’t blow a lot of teams out because they don’t play defense, so even if Jokic gets a big lead after 3 quarters he may have to come back in. Washington has lost every game since the middle of November by double-digits but in securing that win I expect Jokic to have yet another big game.
