There was trigger for concern initially of the yr for the Denver Nuggets amongst NBA viewers and commentators. Lower than 2 years faraway from claiming the franchise’s first championship, Denver stumbled out of the gate this season, stored afloat solely by the spectacular basketball wizardry of 3x MVP Nikola Jokic. A loss to the league bottom-dwelling Washington Wizards in early December put them at a paltry 11-10, however issues have seemingly turned a nook for head coach Michael Malone’s squad since then. Their most up-to-date win, a New Yr’s Day victory over the Atlanta Hawks, marked their eighth W of their final 11 video games.
Tonight is the primary time the San Antonio Spurs will likely be seeing Denver this season. The primary of what’s a home-and-away state of affairs for each groups, as they will even play Saturday night time in San Antonio, the Spurs are coming into 2025 with an actual shot at being someplace within the playoff dialog as soon as Spring rolls round. Whereas Denver will not be the cream of the Western Convention crop this season, they nonetheless boast the reigning MVP and are nonetheless at a stage that Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs are attempting to get to.
San Antonio Spurs (17-16) at Denver Nuggets (19-13)
January 3 2025 | 8:00 PM CT
Watch: | Hear: WOAI (1200 AM)
Spurs Accidents: Jeremy Sochan, again (OUT)
Nuggets Accidents: Aaron Gordon, calf (OUT), Vlatko Cancar, knee (OUT)
What to observe for
There’s a really sturdy case to be made that Nikola Jokic ought to win his 4th MVP on the finish of this season. Denver has wanted Jokic to be Superman and thru the primary quarter of the season, he’s carried out simply that. He’s averaging a career-best 30.7 factors per recreation to associate with his standard rebound numbers (13 RPG) and for the third season in a row is averaging slightly below double-digit assists (9.7). His 14 triple doubles lead the league, however what’s flying underneath the radar is his capturing percentages/effectivity. That is significantly true from behind the arc, the place he’s capturing an absurd 49% on a career-high 4.6 makes an attempt a recreation. The Joker has averaged 33.5 factors, 10 rebounds, and eight assists in 4 video games towards the Spurs with Victor Wembanyama within the lineup.
The opposite half of Denver’s 1-2 punch, there’s been a couple of questions requested about Jamal Murray within the yr and alter since Denver received the title. The Minnesota Timberwolves infamously appeared to bottle him up and frustrate him all through the course of their 7 recreation sequence in final season’s playoffs. The sluggish begin to this yr did little to quell the noise, particularly with Jokic having the form of season that he’s. He appeared to show a nook in December although and has largely been Jokic’s dependable wingman as soon as once more. Murray has scored at the very least 20 factors in 8 of his final 10 video games whereas capturing 43% from 3.
Following their victory over Atlanta, Denver head coach Michael Malone famous that, whereas his workforce has performed significantly better as of late, they nonetheless aren’t the place they need to be. He made particular word of the protection, which gave up a median of 120 factors a recreation all through December. The Spurs ought to have alternatives to attain towards them, however getting stops towards their high-powered offense (118.4 Offensive Ranking, 4th) goes to be the primary problem.
Russell Westbrook has been the feel-good story of the season. On his sixth workforce, Westbrook hasn’t appeared this at house along with his squad since leaving the Thunder. The capturing remains to be a minus, however Westbrook’s relentless play type even this late into his profession has appeared to have a optimistic influence on a workforce that felt prefer it was sleepwalking throughout the earliest components of the season. Russ and Jokic every completed Denver’s December thirtieth recreation towards the Utah Jazz with a triple double.
With one other recreation towards this identical Denver squad tomorrow night time in San Antonio, it’ll be attention-grabbing to see how Mitch Johnson manages his rotation tonight. If the Spurs are down large about midway via the third quarter, does he wave the flag and rally the troops for Saturday?
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