It’s been over two weeks since the Denver Nuggets last played a game in Ball Arena on Christmas night. Since then they’ve played seven games on the east coast and just about everyone got some sort of injury or another. Now they return to their friendly confines and face a team that is suddenly drastically different than they were back when the Nuggets were in Denver last. The Atlanta Hawks traded the face of their franchise, Trae Young, just two days ago in a blockbuster deal that officially kicked off the trade season. In return the Hawks bring in vets C.J. McCollum and Corey Kispert, but perhaps more importantly, they open the door to fully move into the Jalen Johnson era in Atlanta.
The Basics
Who: Denver Nuggets (25-12) vs Atlanta Hawks (18-21)
When: 7PM MST
Where: The Can. Denver, CO.
How to watch/listen: Altitude TV & Altitude Radio 92.5FM
Rival blog: Peachtree Hoops
The Matchup
| Position | Nuggets | Hawks | Advantage |
| PG | Jamal Murray | Dyson Daniels | Nuggets |
| SG | Christian Braun | Nickeil Alexander-Walker | Even |
| SF | Peyton Watson | Jalen Johnson | Hawks |
| PF | Aaron Gordon | Zaccharie Risarcher | Nuggets |
| C | DaRon Holmes II | Mouhamed Gueye | Even |
| Bench | Bruce Brown, Zeke Nnaji, Tim Hardaway Jr., Jalen Pickett | Kristaps Porzingis, Luke Kennard, Vit Krejci, Asa Newell | Even |
Injury report: Jamal Murray – probable (ankle), Aaron Gordon – probable (hamstring), Christian Braun – probable (ankle), Bruce Brown – probable (knee), Spencer Jones – questionable (ankle), Nikola Jokic – out (knee), Jonas Valanciunas – out (calf), Cameron Johnson – out (knee), Tamar Bates – out (foot); Caleb Houston – doubtful (G-League), Nikola Djurisic – doubtful (G-League), Rayj Dennis – doubtful (G-League), N’Faly Dante – out (knee), Trae Young – out (not with team). Note: Trae Young is still listed on Atlanta’s injury report while C.J. McCollum and Corey Kispert are listed as out (trade pending) on the Washington Wizards injury report. It does not appear that the trade is fully finalized and so, as of now, I do not expect either McCollum or Kispert to play.
The Three Things
The thing to watch for: Jalen Johnson vs Peyton Watson
Like I said in the open, this Johnson’s team now in Atlanta. The 20th overall pick in 2021 started to blossom last season and has only got better since then. He’s creeping up towards averaging a triple-double with his current 23/10/8 stat line and while he won’t be making any All Defense teams soon, he’s got length which allows him to be bothersome on the other end of the floor. His trajectory over his career is honestly not that much unlike what we are seeing from Peyton Watson right now on Denver’s side. With injuries to key players across the board, Watson has taken on the role of one of Denver’s primary scorers on offense and that has resulted in five straight games scoring over twenty points (and seven straight in double figures). Don’t think the Nuggets will be trading the face of their franchise to make room for Peyton anytime soon, but for tonight at least Johnson vs Watson is a marquee matchup between some of the top guys on both rosters.
The thing to remember: Atlanta didn’t trade Trae because they needed C.J.
Nothing against McCollum, he’s a vet, an intelligent player and a great leader, but he’s well past his Portland Trail Blazers days when he was the #2 guy on a perennial playoff team. He’s nowhere near the talent level of Young, even when we add in Kispert. No, Atlanta traded Trae because he was owed $90 million over the next two seasons and the Hawks felt like their direction forward was better with some of their other young talents. Don’t be surprised in Johnson isn’t the only one who starts blossoming. Zaccharie Risarcher, the sometimes maligned 1st overall pick from last year, put up 25 points in the first game without Young while Nickeil Alexander-Walker didn’t score a ton but put up as many shots as anyone on the roster. Without the ball flowing through Trae on every play guys are going to get more opportunities to show what they can do. Beware of the random Hawk killing Denver tonight.
The thing to bet: Parlay Jamal Murray over 9.5 assists & Peyton Watson over 16.5 points (+234)
A rare parlay on the TTB. As I said, Watson has been over 20 points for five straight games, meanwhile, since Nikola Jokic has been out Jamal Murray has taken on the role of lead distributor and has racked up 33 assists over the past two games. Both of these overs are extremely gettable if the Nuggets just keep playing the way they’ve been playing.
