It’s the final home game of the regular season and the first game in front of Denver Nuggets fans for David Adelman as the interim head coach. Can the Nuggets build upon their win on Wednesday?
Let’s delve into the final Memphis Grizzlies matchup:
Denver Nuggets vs Memphis Grizzlies
Projected Starting Lineups
Denver: Jalen Pickett, Christian Braun, Michael Porter Jr., Aaron Gordon, Nikola Jokic
Memphis: Ja Morant, Desmond Bane, Vince Williams Jr. Jaren Jackson Jr., Zach Edey
Key Bench Players
Denver: Russell Westbrook, Julian Strawther, Peyton Watson, DeAndre Jordan
Memphis: Scotty Pippen Jr., Luke Kennard, John Konchar, Lamar Stevens, Santi Aldama
Notable Injuries
Denver: Jamal Murray – DOUBTFUL, DaRon Holmes II – OUT
Memphis: BACK-TO-BACK, Jaylen Wells – OUT, Brandon Clarke – OUT
Key for the Nuggets – Keep Bringing Energy
The biggest noticeable difference for the Nuggets before and after the firing of Michael Malone and Calvin Booth was a higher level of effort. So much of winning in the regular season is about which team is willing to try harder and focus on avoiding likely mistakes. The Nuggets did that in Sacramento, committing just seven turnovers while playing hard defensively as a starting unit.
Tonight, the Grizzlies are playing in Denver after traveling from Memphis last night in a late night matchup vs the Minnesota Timberwolves. They lost, but Ja Morant, Desmond Bane, and Jaren Jackson Jr. played 36, 39, and 37 minutes respectively. The only way the Nuggets can take advantage of that at altitude is if they play harder than Memphis does, and they can. Memphis will be pretty desperate to try and avoid the play-in though, so matching and exceeding their energy is paramount.
Important Matchup – Ja Morant vs Jalen Pickett and Christian Braun
Morant just wrapped up a 36-point performance on 13-of-27 from the field and 5-of-13 from three. He scored, but the Timberwolves still defended him reasonably well without giving up easy points of his pick and roll partner: Zach Edey. The big rookie center had seven points on four shots in 30 minutes and was basically out there to set screens. In this matchup against Denver with Jokic usually using more aggressive coverages than drop coverage from Rudy Gobert, Morant will find Edey in the middle if Jokic commits too far.
This will be a game of cat-and-mouse for Jokic with Morant, while also battling with a behemoth in Edey. It’s why Pickett and Braun are so important. Those two must reduce the amount of space Morant creates on screens, and the quicker Pickett and Braun can get back into the play, the more likely Jokic will be to contain Morant at the level.
On the other end, Pickett and Braun combined for 43 points on 22 shots against Sacramento. Could they replicate that performance and take advantage of Morant’s subpar defense? That would go a long way toward a win.
Number of the Day – 30
All 30 teams are playing tonight. All 30 teams are playing on Sunday. It’s going to be a chaotic weekend in the NBA with some relaxation on Saturday.
Denver of course plays Memphis tonight. They play Houston on Sunday in a game that probably doesn’t matter at all to Houston unless they want to manipulate the standings. The Nuggets will have a better idea of how hard they need to go in that final game in order to guarantee certain playoff spots.
Nugget who should have a good game: Peyton Watson
On Wednesday, Watson was the clear sixth man in the Nuggets rotation, the first player off the bench in both the first and third quarter. He played 25 minutes while Russell Westbrook played just 17, a surprising differential but one that highlights how important Watson remains to the Nuggets playoff hopes. With Morant and Bane both playing well and Jackson a dangerous threat, this would appear to be a Watson matchup, somebody who can switch, rotate from the weak side, guard in isolation, and play fast. If Watson’s the guy the Nuggets want out there, they need him to keep proving it. Helping hold down the Grizzlies stars while attacking in transition and hitting open threes would be a great start.
