Yes Denver Nuggets fan, we have basketball tonight! The long wait is over. While this game ultimately will not count, the Nuggets will take to the hardwood tonight to face division rival, the Minnesota Timberwolves. It is the first of five exhibition games the Nuggets will play to prepare for the upcoming regular season. They head into tonight with a clean bill of health and a ton of anticipation about the depth that’s been added to the roster. We should get a good look at that depth tonight as the starters likely won’t play in the second half. Ball night!
The Basics
Who: Denver Nuggets (0-0) vs Minnesota Timberwolves (0-0)
When: 7PM MDT
Where: Pechenga Arena. San Diego, CA.
How to watch/listen: Altitude TV, Altitude Radio 92.5FM. Where either a Wolves or Nuggets jersey with official shorts and a headband and you probably get 5 minutes of playing time in the fourth quarter.
Rival blog: Canis Hoopus
The Three Things
The thing to watch for: How does Cam look with the starters?
Like I said, the starters probably don’t play a ton tonight and I doubt they play at all in the second half but when they do see the floor, all eyes will be on Cam Johnson. The newest addition to the starting lineup, Johnson has been hyped up as a guy who can still give you the offensive fire power of Michael Porter JR. while being a better off ball fit on offense and a stronger defender. He gets his chance to show off his differences from MPJ tonight. More than anything I’m just looking at comfort level. Cam’s been practicing with the guys for a bit now so hopefully he fits in quickly, but playing with a point center unlike any other player in the world takes time. Don’t be surprised if we don’t see a fully unlocked Johnson until Decemberish.
The thing to remember: A lot of work to do in the preseason still
We know who the five starters are going to be on this team but who will make up the rotation? Bruce Brown seems likely to get regular minutes, as does Jonas Valanciunas, but after that it’s hard to say. Will rotation guys from the end of last season like Peyton Watson and Julian Strawther be the first off the bench? Or will they lose out to new vets like Tim Hardaway Jr? Where does technically still a rookie DaRon Holmes II fit into the picture? Is Jalen Pickett really going to get 15-20 minutes a game backing up Jamal Murray? So much is left to determine in the back end of Denver’s rotation. They’ll start figuring out exactly who’s going to get minutes tonight.
The thing to bet: Under 220
I generally speaking will not advise betting on exhibition games. With the final score not counting in the record books it’s really hard to predict trends or make any determinations regarding strategy of either team. What I do think is likely tonight is a lot of less talented guys getting minutes and a lot of those guys knowing their only chance of making a rotation (or even the roster) is going to be by giving 110% on defense. So mediocre shooters playing against dudes with something to prove on defense lends me to think we won’t hit 220 points tonight. It’s preseason though so, again, tread carefully.
