It’s been a little bit. The Denver Nuggets haven’t played since Wednesday night, having accumulated several off days in a row. That’s often a good thing, and we will see how well the Nuggets can make use of it.
Head coach Michael Malone shared at practice on Saturday that Aaron Gordon is nearing a return. He’s doubtful for tonight’s contest, but it’s the first time he’s been anything but out on the injury report. The rest has done him well. Hopefully, the same can be said for Denver’s entire rotation.
Tonight, they go back to LA to face the Los Angeles Clippers. James Harden’s been really good, as has the Clippers defense overall. The Nuggets will have their work cut out for them, especially Peyton Watson and Jamal Murray. Watson will guard Harden. Murray will likely have to contend with Kris Dunn and his hellacious defense. That doesn’t sound like a fun time.
Let’s delve into the Los Angeles Clippers matchup:
Denver Nuggets @ Los Angeles Clippers
Projected Starting Lineups
Denver: Jamal Murray, Christian Braun, Peyton Watson, Michael Porter Jr., Nikola Jokic
Los Angeles: James Harden, Kris Dunn, Amir Coffey, Derrick Jones Jr., Ivica Zubac
Key Bench Players
Denver: Russell Westbrook, Julian Strawther, Hunter Tyson, Dario Saric or DeAndre Jordan
Los Angeles: Bones Hyland, Terance Mann, Jordan Miller, Nicolas Batum, Mo Bamba
Notable Injuries
Denver: Peyton Watson – PROBABLE, Aaron Gordon – DOUBTFUL, Trey Alexander – OUT, Vlatko Cancar – OUT, DaRon Holmes II – OUT
Los Angeles: Kawhi Leonard – OUT, Norman Powell – QUESTIONABLE, Kevin Porter Jr. – OUT, PJ Tucker – ABSENT
Key for the Nuggets – Will the time off be good or bad?
The Nuggets last played on Wednesday, so they had three full days off to rest, recover, and presumably spend with family for those that celebrate Thanksgiving. It’s often a good thing when teams get an extended break if there are a few injuries, players are exhausted, or the team simply needed a mental break.
Of course, the last time the Nuggets had an extended break was four days off right before the Nuggets lost to the injured New Orleans Pelicans and Memphis Grizzlies sans Nikola Jokic. It’s not always good to get out of rhythm.
Will this opportunity for time off be a good thing for the Nuggets? It wasn’t last time. This time, the Nuggets have Jokic though, and that makes a big deal of difference.
Important Matchup – Russell Westbrook vs Bones Hyland
First of all, hell yeah.
Second of all, there’s a lot of reasons to be excited for this matchup. Westbrook is making his second return to the Crypt within about a week, but this time is against the team that said they didn’t want him anymore. Westbrook wanted to come back to LA. The Clippers effectively said “no thanks” to that idea, which always makes for great theater.
Bones Hyland will likely play tonight. He doesn’t often play, but with Kevin Porter Jr. out due to an ankle sprain, expect the diminutive Bones to get an opportunity against his former teammate. The Clippers likely won’t have Bones guard Russ all that often. Whenever they do, I expect fouls, turnovers, And-1’s, and an overall level of chaos that should be extremely entertaining.
Number of the Day – -52.98
That’s Michael Porter Jr.’s current net rating in the 77 minutes he’s on the floor without either Nikola Jokic or Jamal Murray on the floor as well. That number, to be clear, is a -52.98 Net Rating, according to PBP Stats. A 75.76 offensive rating and 128.74 defensive rating.
Before the season, I expressed an interest in seeing Denver Nuggets lineups that featured Murray and Jokic playing together more frequently while Porter staggered with the second unit. We’ve seen it a fair amount to start the season, but the minutes per game isn’t very high because it’s truly so bad that I can’t even think straight for those three minutes of play time.
To be clear, this isn’t anybody’s fault. It just isn’t working. Westbrook and Jokic lineups have been strong. Porter’s taken a step forward in his game (with Jokic). Murray lineups without Jokic or Porter have been bad as well (-11.54 Net Rating in 53 minutes) but not to the heinous degree of the other combinations.
Nugget who should have a good game: Nikola Jokic
Let’s go out on a limb here. The last time Jokic faced off against Ivica Zubac and the Clippers, he dropped 41 points and made a career high in three-pointers. Interestingly, that might have been by design, because the Clippers allow the highest proportion of above-the-break threes of any team in the NBA, according to Cleaning the Glass. I have to imagine part of that is Zubac’s drop coverage. He protects the rim really well but has always struggled to get out far enough against guards and pick-and-pop bigs.
Do I expect Jokic to dominate again like that? No. He will probably find a new way to dominate though. Denver’s pick and roll attack is a little bit better now than in the past few games, and getting Jokic on the move against Zubac is a good idea. If Zubac gets into any foul trouble, it’s Mo Bamba behind him. That’s a great opportunity for Jokic to score and rebound consistently.