The Denver Nuggets are battered and bruised, sick and injured but they still have to try to crack the code to win on their home court, this time as they host the Milwaukee Bucks. Milwaukee is trying to find some momentum, as they are 3 in the loss column out of sixth place. They just haven’t been able to chain together wins either at home or on the road. The Nuggets can’t catch a break, with viruses ravaging their locker room while the injury bug already hit every starter and some reserves.
Christian Braun and Aaron Gordon will likely play as they ramp back up from their missed time due to leg injuries. Jamal Murray and Spencer Jones are less likely, but Denver could use every body they can put on the floor. The question is whether they can find the chemistry on both ends to slow down Giannis and the Bucks because Denver has no size to spare. It’s another game likely to have some wild lineups as Denver tries to piece together a win for the home fans, who are owed one after some of the home losses so far.
The Basics
Who: Denver Nuggets (25-13) vs Milwaukee Bucks (16-21)
When: 6:00 PM MT
Where: Ball Arena, Denver CO
How to watch/listen: Altitude, +, Radio League Pass. Say you’re a hypnotist there to help Denver get over their losing ways at home.
Rival Blog: Brew Hoop
Injury Report: Nuggets: Christian Braun – probable (Ankle), Aaron Gordon – probable (Hamstring), Jamal Murray – questionable (Ankle, Illness), Spencer Jones – questionable (Ankle, Illness), Nikola Jokić – out (Knee), Cameron Johnson – out – (Knee), Jonas Valančiūnas – out (Calf); Bucks: Kevin Porter Jr. – probable (Hip), Taurean Prince – out (Neck Surgery)
The Three Things
The thing to watch for: Can Denver protect the paint?
If Jamal plays, they’ll have some offense to throw at the Bucks. But Denver couldn’t keep the Hawks out of the paint, as they scored 56 points there in their blowout of the Nuggets on Friday. They gave up 48 and 50 to the Sixers and Celtics in the paint in their previous games. The Bucks are second in the league in three-point percentage (right behind the Nuggets who are the best) but neither team takes a ton of threes. If the Nuggets aren’t going to be able to take away threes from the Bucks, they need to take the rim out of the equation.
With smaller guards in the rotation like Jalen Pickett and Tim Hardaway Jr, as well as Christian Braun still moving gingerly as he works back from the ankle injury that took more than a month from him, Denver has not been great at containing perimeter penetration. They also don’t have any available seven-footers. They are going to rely on their forward rotation to keep Giannis from putting on a dunk-fest, and they will need to take care of the ball. Milwaukee is not great at forcing turnovers but Denver hasn’t needed much forcing, just giving the ball away under any kind of pressure. I expect Denver to need some zone, some ball security and some luck to contain the easy points for the Bucks.
The thing to remember: This is not Jokic Ball
Hopefully Jamal is able to go, because they need his floor-generalship and shooting capabilities to create runs of their own. Against the Hawks, Denver simply had to work too hard to get any sort of run going and they ran out of gas late. The lost possessions from the turnovers were too much to overcome. With Murray out there, who has had 15+ assists in two games just this past week, they have the scorer and facilitator they need. Aaron Gordon has had some nice scoring performances since coming back, and Peyton Watson has scored over 20 points in his last 5 contests, helping to balance the scoreboard without Jokic. Denver will have to gang rebound without Joker, put the ball in Murray’s hands, and find a way to get stops. Jokic Ball makes everything easier, but until Denver can get back to that promised land they’ll have to do things the hard way – and that means everyone has to contribute, just as they did on the long East Coast road trip.
The thing to bet: Jamal assists (over)
If Murray plays, then I expect the Bucks to do what most other teams have done without Jokic: send two guys at Jamal and make someone else beat them.
