The Denver Nuggets are 0-2 to start their road trip after dropping last night’s game against the hapless Washington Wizards. Now, Denver faces a much more difficult opponent in the Atlanta Hawks. The Nuggets likely landed in the wee hours of the morning after traveling from Washington so rest will be a factor as well. Like Denver, Atlanta is sitting just above .500 on the season. Unlike Denver though, the Hawks are riding high, coming into tonight on a six game win streak while Trae Young is playing some of the best ball of his career.
The Essentials
Who: Denver Nuggets (11-10) at Atlanta Hawks (13-11)
When: 4:00 PM MST
Where: The house that Jake built. Atlanta, GA.
How to watch/listen: Denver Stiffs does not condone piracy…unless it’s the romanticized 17th century type. Altitude TV where available, NBA League pass for those not in the Nuggets market. Altitude+. Altitude Radio 92.5 FM. Show up in dreads with a blinged out goblet, a camo Atlanta Braves hat and sunglasses, scream “Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah” and security will say “oh pardon us Mr. John, right this way” and walk you right in to your courtside seats.
Rival Blog: Peachtree Hoops
The Matchup
| Position | Nuggets | Hawks | Advantage |
| PG | Jamal Murray | Trae Young | Hawks |
| SG | Christian Braun | Dyson Daniels | Even |
| SF | Michael Porter Jr. | Jalen Johnson | Even |
| PF | Aaron Gordon | Zaccharie Risacher | Nuggets |
| C | Nikola Jokic | Clint Capela | Nuggets |
| Bench | Russell Westbrook, Julian Strawther, Peyton Watson, Zeke Nnaji | Vit Krecj, Bogdan Bogdanovic, De’Andre Hunter, Onyeka Okongwu | Hawks |
The Three Things
The thing to watch for: any semblance of perimeter defense
The Nuggets might very well be the worst team in the league at defending the perimeter right now. It’s been tough to watch. The Hawks meanwhile have a bunch of guys who hurt you from the perimeter. It starts with Young, one of the shiftiest guards in the league with unlimited range and excellent passing ability, but there’s also Jalen Johnson who’s really come into his own, and Bogdan Bogdanovic and De’Andre Hunter off the bench. If the Nuggets don’t focus and, frankly, start taking some pride in the way they play defense it’s going to be another long night.
The thing to remember: Defense also leads to offense
Throwing out a good old fashioned George Karl cliché here but with the Hawks it’s true. If you make the effort on defense Atlanta will turn the ball over and when they do they give up the third most points in the league off of turnovers. So it’s more than just not getting embarrassed again on one side of the court. Denver needs to play tough defense, particularly when Nikola is resting, and create easy points for themselves in transition. They are more than capable of doing this, they’re fifth in the league in percentage of points from points off turnovers and first in fastbreak points, but they’ve got to focus first on where those points come from: defense.
The thing to bet: Nikola Jokic over 1.5 three pointers (+100)
I like Joker for some threes tonight. He’s hit two or more in eight of his last nine games and is still shooting above 50% from three. After pouring 56 points in last night I’m thinking Nikola might be a bit winded tonight and maybe a touch less aggressive. I see him settling for some more outside shots tonight but because he’s Nikola freaking Jokic, some of those shots will fall. At +100 this seems like an easy call.
