I have a confession to make…I love the NBA Cup. The jerseys, the crazy courts, the added intrigue to an otherwise regular old November game. Love it. I care about the Denver Nuggets winning it too. I want them to be the first team in NBA history to win the Cup and the Finals in the same season. To do that this year a win tonight against the Houston Rockets will go a long way. Both teams are 1-1 in Cup standings (along with everyone else in West Group C), both teams are in the top three of the Western Conference regular season standings as well. It’ll be the first matchup for Denver with the new look Rockets who acquired Kevin Durant in the offseason. They also have All-Star Alperen Sengun and an exciting young player in Amen Thompson. The Nuggets have their work cut out for them tonight.
The Basics
Who: Denver Nuggets (11-3) at Houston Rockets (10-3)
When: 6:30 PM MST
Where: Yeah this truck is 30 years old and has 350k miles but I still want $20k for it…Center. Houston, TX.
How to watch/listen: Amazon Prime, Altitude Radio 92.5 FM.
Rial Blog: The Dream Shake
The Matchup
| Position | Nuggets | Rockets | Advantage |
| PG | Jamal Murray | Amen Thompson | Nuggets |
| SG | Cam Johnson | Kevin Durant | Rockets |
| SF | Peyton Watson | Jabari Smith Jr. | Even |
| PF | Aaron Gordon | Alperen Sengun | Rockets |
| C | Nikola Jokic | Stephen Adams | Nuggets |
| Bench | Bruce Brown, Jonas Valanciunas, Tim Hardaway Jr., Spencer Jones | Reed Shepard, Aaron Holiday, Clint Capela, Josh Okogie | Even |
Injury report: Aaron Gordon – probable (hamstring), Christian Braun – out (ankle), Julian Strawther – out (back), Tamar Bates – out (G-League), DaRon Holmes II – out (G-League), Curtis Jones – out (G-League); Steven Adams – questionable (ankle), Jabari Smith Jr. – questionable (knee), Fred VanVleet – out (knee), Dorian Finney-Smith – out (ankle), Tari Eason – out (oblique), Isaiah Crawford – out (G-League), Kevon Harris – out (G-League).
The Three Things
The thing to watch for: Nikola Jokic vs Alperen Sengun
It is a marquee bigs matchup tonight. The Rockets play Sengun at power forward (more on that later) but he’s as close as you’re going to get to a big who runs the offense like Jokic does. His game is eerily similar to Nikola’s, combining playmaking and shooting touch with his size to create one of the biggest matchup problems in the league. The Nuggets will no doubt throw different looks/players at him, but he’ll be a handful regardless. On the Rockets side, if Steven Adams can’t go they’ll find themselves burning up Sengun’s energy on the defensive side trying to contain Nikola (or put Clint Capela on him and pray).
The thing to remember: Houston plays a big ol’ lineup
Amen Thompson starts at “point guard” while Durant plays “shooting guard” and Jabari Smith Jr. plays “small” forward. Those players heights are 6’7″, 6’11” and 6’11” respectively. Since Fred Van Vleet is out for the season and Reed Shephard is still growing into a full time starting PG, the Rockets have elected to eschew traditional lineup sizes and go with the mega lineup instead. It’s a luxury that can be afforded to them with Sengun and Durant’s playmaking ability (Thompson is no slouch setting up his teammates either). It also means the Nuggets are going to be undersized in this matchup. Ironically, the injury to Christian Braun might actually help in this game as it allows Cam Johnson and Peyton Watson to start on the wings and their length will be needed. Aaron Gordon will have his hands full with Sengun so don’t be surprised if we see the double big lineup from Denver tonight where Jonas Valanciunas and Jokic play on the floor together.
The thing to bet: Cam Johnson over 12.5 points (-110)
Two games in a row Cam Johnson has found his shooting stroke and looks like the player Denver traded for who led Brooklyn’s offense in previous years. The Rockets are a tough matchup for sure, but with Johnson getting some confidence and with the ask only being 13 points I feel pretty good about this one.
