Full of Thanksgiving leftovers, the Denver Nuggets host the San Antonio Spurs in the final Group Stage battle of the Emirates NBA Cup. The winner of this game will win Group C, aka the Group of Death, and will get an automatic spot in the NBA Cup games in Las Vegas. Both teams are down two starters, but with Victor Wembanyama out for the Spurs it is up to the Nuggets to dictate the terms of the game and find a way to come out victorious.

The Basics

Who: Denver Nuggets (13-4) vs San Antonio Spurs (12-5)

When: 7:30 PM MT

Where: Ball Arena, Denver CO

How to watch/listen: Altitude/ + / Radio. Tell security you are there to feng shui the locker rooms to get rid of the injury curses for both teams.

Rival Blog: Pounding the Rock

Injury Report: Nuggets: Aaron Gordon – out (hamstring), Julian Strawther – out (back), Christian Braun – out (foot). Spurs: Victor Wembanyama – out (calf), Stephon Castle – out (Hip/Illness), Jordan McLaughlin – out (hamstring)

The Three Things

The thing to watch for: Will Denver start fast?

The Nuggets are down Gordon and Braun so fast starts haven’t been as easy to come by, but with the Spurs missing Wemby it leaves Denver the opportunity to come out of the gate swinging and set the tone for the whole contest. Denver is rested and have the best player on the court – potentially the two best players if Jamal Murray comes out hot – and they need to stop playing down to the level of their opponents. The Spurs are dangerous, even without Castle and Wemby, as De’Aaron Fox proved when he put up 37 points and 8 assists to beat the Portland Trail Blazers by 13 in their previous game. The Blazers play a physical game and already own a victory over Denver, so Denver will have to make sure to match San Antonio’s intensity if not exceed it because the Spurs will bring the fight.

The thing to remember: Denver is more than the Jokic-Jamal connection

Denver’s vaunted deeper roster is being tested early with the injuries, but Peyton Watson has had two impressive performances already including in their last game where Watson went 5-for-12 from deep as the Grizzlies dared him to shoot – and he did, very well in fact. Without Wembanyama the Spurs may also be rotating multiple bigs to Jokic which will mean it’s up to the open guys to hit shots. Tim Hardaway Jr. and Bruce Brown need to keep up with Devis Vassell on both ends, and Cam Johnson can keep being a secondary creator and shot-maker. Denver has the pieces to win this, those pieces just need to not have eaten too many marshmallow-covered yams.

The thing to bet: a Nuggets win

I don’t know if it will be pretty or ugly, but take the dub – Denver has no desire to let another game on the home court slip away.