The Denver Nuggets continue their Florida road trip with a Sunday early evening game against the Orlando Magic. Champion and former Nugget Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has found a new home in Florida after departing in free agency, and the Magic are benefitting greatly from KCP’s defense and veteran savvy. The Magic are surviving almost entirely on defense this season, ranking 27th in offense and third in defense due to several injuries suffered by Magic stars.

Can the Nuggets take advantage of an undermanned Magic squad? They’ve struggled with this team before.

Let’s delve back into the Orlando Magic matchup:

Denver Nuggets @ Orlando Magic

Projected Starting Lineups

Denver: Russell Westbrook, Jamal Murray, Christian Braun, Michael Porter Jr., Nikola Jokic

Orlando: Cole Anthony, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Tristan de Silva, Paolo Banchero, Wendell Carter Jr.

Key Bench Players

Denver: Julian Strawther, Peyton Watson, Aaron Gordon, DeAndre Jordan

Orlando: Anthony Black, Cory Joseph, Trevelin Queen, Caleb Houstan, Jonathan Isaac

Notable Injuries

Denver: Nikola Jokic – PROBABLE, Aaron Gordon – PROBABLE, Vlatko Cancar – OUT, DaRon Holmes II – OUT

Orlando: Franz Wagner – OUT, Jalen Suggs – OUT, Moritz Wagner – OUT, Goga Bitadze – OUT, Gary Harris – OUT, Jett Howard – QUESTIONABLE

Key for the Nuggets – Keep the Momentum

The Nuggets just played a truly excellent game vs the Miami Heat. It was Denver’s 11th win of 19 points or more and as excellent example of what the Nuggets look like when they’re clicking. Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray dominated, and the Nuggets had 35 assists while shooting over 48% from three-point range.

The key for Denver is stringing together as many victories in a row as they can, and Orlando is a great test. The Nuggets might relax because they see the health of Orlando at this current moment, but last season in a similar situation, the Nuggets let go of the rope against the Magic and paid the price in crunch time.

Keep the pedal to the medal, execute the game plan, and lock in on Paolo Banchero. He’s the key to everything for the Magic with Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs sidelined.

Important Matchup – Paolo Banchero vs Nuggets forwards

The aforementioned Banchero had a 30-point triple-double in Denver the last time he faced the Nuggets. Banchero went to the free throw line 19 times, and the Nuggets simply couldn’t handle his combination of physicality, athleticism, and aggressiveness.

If the Nuggets use the same starting lineup they’ve had for the past few games, Michael Porter Jr. will likely draw the initial assignment on Banchero. That’s a tall task for the Nuggets scoring forward, and Michael Malone might decide to avoid that matchup all together and deploy one of Christian Braun or Russell Westbrook on the larger Banchero instead.

Off the bench, the Nuggets will of course use both Peyton Watson and Aaron Gordon to match up with the young All-Star; however, don’t be surprised if the Nuggets make some quick subs if Porter struggles in this matchup.

Number of the Day – 14.9

That’s the Two-Man Net Rating for the Nuggets, excluding garbage time, when Nikola Jokic and Russell Westbrook have shared the floor this season, according to Cleaning the Glass.

Two-Man Net Ratings captured by Cleaning the Glass, minimum of 75 possessions played together.

+14.9 is an incredible number, highlighted by a 127.4 Offensive Rating, ranking in the 99th percentile. The chemistry between Jokic and Westbrook has been palpable this season, allowing for the Nuggets to play interesting lineups that don’t always feature several starters with Jokic.

Last year, Denver had two lineups with Jokic that played over 1,400 combined minutes together:

  • Jamal Murray, Caldwell-Pope, Porter, Gordon, Jokic: 958 minutes, +282
  • Reggie Jackson, Caldwell-Pope, Porter, Gordon, Jokic: 444 minutes, +76

The next most minutes any five-man lineup played last season was just 90 minutes. Ninety.

This year, Denver already has four separate five-man units playing over 100 minutes with a fifth on the way:

  • Murray, Braun, Porter, Gordon, Jokic: 220 minutes, +39
  • Westbrook, Murray, Braun, Porter, Jokic: 159 minutes, +27
  • Murray, Braun, Watson, Porter, Jokic: 153 minutes, +42
  • Westbrook, Braun, Porter, Gordon, Jokic: 100 minutes, +64(!)
  • Westbrook, Braun, Watson, Porter, Jokic: 89 minutes, +13

Denver’s best punch isn’t as strong as it was last year. Denver’s starting group last season was one of the best in the NBA, one of the best in franchise history. They do have more capable punches this year though, and that matters.

Nugget who should have a good game: Russell Westbrook

This game is a great opportunity for Westbrook. He played a role in the last matchup but mostly took a backseat to Murray-Jokic actions. Today, good friend Kentavious Caldwell-Pope will probably guard Murray, which leaves Cole Anthony to match up with Westbrook. Anthony is undersized, and the Nuggets should try and get as many cuts to the rim for Westbrook as possible to counter that.

In addition, Orlando’s offense has had turnover issues this season, especially in the last few weeks with the injuries they’ve suffered. Can Westbrook help turn defense into offense for Denver? That would be a major contribution.