Michael Porter Jr. makes his return to Ball Arena tonight for the first time since being traded to the Brooklyn Nets in the offseason. MPJ got the better of his former team in their first matchup, posting an easy 27/11/5 in route to a deflating 127-115 loss for Denver. The battered roster had just beaten a good Toronto team after losing Jokic and the Nets were on a three-game losing streak. Cam Thomas, Noah Clowney, and Porter Jr. couldn’t miss from deep, and Brooklyn cruised.
The Nets come into Denver tonight, however, on a six-game losing steak, missing half their roster to injury, and coming off a brawl with the Phoenix Suns two nights ago. MPJ remains the lone bright spot in a rebuilding year for yet-to-be-proud franchise. The Nuggets will again be without all-world center Nikola Jokic and defensive anchors Aaron Gordon and Christian Braun, as well as former Net Cam Johnson. The Nuggets’ schedule picks up in difficulty significantly the next few weeks, so Murray, Watson, Val, and Hardaway need to find a way to bank another shorthanded win.
The Basics
Who: Brooklyn Nets (12-33) at Denver Nuggets (31-16)
When: 7:00 PM MST
Where: The Can, Cow Town
How to watch/listen: Altitude TV / + / Kosmicki
Rival Blog: NetsDaily
Injury Report | Nuggets: Jamal Murray—probable (hamstring/hip); Jonas Valanciunas—probable (calf) Nikola Jokic—out (knee); Christian Braun—out (ankle?); Aaron Gordon—out (hamstring); Cameron Johnson—out (knee); Tamar Bates—out (foot)
Brooklyn Nets: Noah Clowney—out (back); Egor Demin—out (foot); Haywood Highsmith—out (knee); Terance Mann—day-to-day (back); Cam Thomas—out (hamstring); Ziaire Williams—out (calf)
The Three Things
The thing to watch for: Peyton Watson vs. Michael Porter Jr.
Coming off of a terrible shooting night against the Detroit Pistons (6-20), Peyton Watson will look to rebound (and score) in a matchup against his former running mate. Watson’s glow up since the Brooklyn game has been much discussed, but even after Tuesday’s stinker, Swatson is averaging 23.6 points, 8.3 rebounds, and almost 4 stocks per 100 possessions this season and is now in trade/acquisition talks around the league. He had 23 on 8-14 shooting in the first game against Brooklyn, an output he should be able to meet or exceed against a battered Nets lineup.
Michael Porter Jr. matches up fairly well against Watson on both ends. The height advantage and high release allows MPJ to shoot over basically anyone in the league who isn’t a French center, but Watson has the quickness, athleticism, and hops advantage on both ends. It’ll be fun, again, to watch the two battle it out in front of the home crowd.
The thing to remember: The Demin and most of the other killers from game 1 are out
The Nuggets got cooked from three in game one. Clowney was 4-6, Demin was 3-5, Williams was 2-3, and Thomas was 1-3 but 5-10 overall in big minutes off the bench—none of whom will be playing tonight. The scoring load will fall on Mike primarily and center Nic Claxton, who didn’t play in the first matchup. With the red hot Clippers, Thunder, Pistons, and Knicks lined up, the Nuggets could easily get complacent and let a monster spoiler game from Porter keep the game interesting. Look for the Nuggets to try to blow the game wide open early so they can coast into a tough back-to-back on Friday night against Kawhi and Harden.
The thing to bet: Michael Porter Jr. for all the stats
Seems likely that MPJ will put on a show in his first game back in Denver and playing with a roster that lacks any other scoring punch. Over on points, threes, and rebounds makes sense while the Nuggets still lack some size and perimeter defense, as well.
