The Denver Nuggets are officially 11-9 through their first 20 games of the season. Fortunately, they’re about to face a team that’s 2-18. The Washington Wizards have lost 16 games in a row, their last loss to the Dallas Mavericks by 36 points.
It’s time for the Nuggets to bounce back and look a bit like themselves again.
Let’s delve into the Washington Wizards matchup:
Denver Nuggets @ Washington Wizards
Projected Starting Lineups
Denver: Russell Westbrook, Christian Braun, Michael Porter Jr., Aaron Gordon, Nikola Jokic
Washington: Jordan Poole, Bub Carrington, Bilal Coulibaly, Marvin Bagley, Alex Sarr
Key Bench Players
Denver: Julian Strawther, Peyton Watson, hopefully Trey Alexander, maybe possibly somebody else
Washington: Jared Butler, Johnny Davis, Justin Champagnie, Jonas Valanciunas
Notable Injuries
Denver: Jamal Murray – QUESTIONABLE, Dario Saric – QUESTIONABLE, Vlatko Cancar – OUT, DaRon Holmes II – OUT
Washington: Kyle Kuzma – OUT, Kyshawn George – OUT, Corey Kispert – OUT, Saddiq Bey – OUT, Patrick Baldwin – OUT
Key for the Nuggets – Win at all costs
The Washington Wizards are so, so, so bad. They have been for years, but this season is even worse.
The Wizards have lost 16 games in a row. They won their third and fourth game, both against the Atlanta Hawks somehow. The last game was on October 30th. The Wizards haven’t won since. They also have six players out and are going to start a whole heckuva lot of young players.
That alone should be motivation enough for the Nuggets to take care of business. They cannot be the team that loses to the Wizards and gives them their first win in more than a month. With where this Nuggets team is at, that would be a really bad sign about how serious they’re trying to take this season.
Important Matchup – Jordan Poole vs Nuggets point guards
If there are any bright spots on the Wizards, Poole is surprisingly one of them. Last season, the former Warriors guard struggled mightily in the midst of his departure to DC. His decision making is still suspect of course, but he’s shooting a career high 40.6% from three-point range while averaging career highs in assists and steals per game.
For the Nuggets, Jamal Murray is questionable tomorrow with a hamstring injury. This might be an opportunity to rest him on the front end of a back-to-back against the Atlanta Hawks tomorrow. I don’t expect Murray to play for that reason. He’s averaging a career high 36.1 minutes per game after all.
In his place, Russell Westbrook will probably start. It’s unknown whether Julian Strawther and Christian Braun will split backup point guard duties behind him, or Trey Alexander will be called up from the G League. This would be a great opportunity for Alexander in a low pressure situation. It’s also possible that Jalen Pickett gets an opportunity, but that seems…unlikely.
Number of the Day – 6
That’s the number of games the Nuggets have won in a row against the Wizards. They’ve swept Washington over each of the last three seasons.
The last loss to the Wizards occurred when…you guessed it…Russell Westbrook was on the team. Westbrook had a triple-double. Bradley Beal had 33 points. Rui Hachimura had 20.
Jamal Murray had 34 points in that one. It was a great game, until he passed it to Facu Campazzo on a 3-on-1 fast break in the closing seconds for a three-pointer at the buzzer…Campazzo missed, finishing the game 1-of-7 from three-point range.
Nugget who should have a good game: Nikola Jokic
This one is pretty simple. Nikola Jokic is going up against Alex Sarr and Jonas Valanciunas tomorrow. Those are his two most successful matchups on a consistent basis: a rookie center…and Jonas Valanciunas.
The Nuggets need a great offensive game from Jokic, particularly if Murray is out tomorrow. He’s more than capable, and that excellent offense might manifest in different ways. He could have 50 points. He could have 20 assists. He could have some proportion in the middle of those two.
Whatever the case, except the MVP to bounce back from a subpar 27-20-11 night against the team with the best record in the league.
