Once Upon A Time In Las Vegas – Super Bowl
It’s an interconference clash on the hardwood as teams on opposite ends of their respective conference’s playoff pictures take the floor in Buzz City. The Denver Nuggets are on the road as they make the trip to take on the Charlotte Hornets Saturday night. Denver was beaten 115-104 by Orlando on the road Thursday night in their most recent game, losing outright as a five-point favorite. Charlotte logs the second game of a back-to-back set here as they were on the road to face Boston in Beantown Friday night. The Hornets took on Washington on the road Wednesday night, falling 118-104 and failing to cover as a 3.5-point underdog in a Southeast Division tilt. In the all-time regular season series between the teams, the Nuggets own a 35-30 advantage and have won the last two meetings. That includes a 119-115 home win in the first matchup this season on December 18, 2022.
Denver had won four of their previous five games before getting surprised by Orlando on the road Thursday night. The Nuggets fell to 38-18 on the season and entered Friday with a nine-game lead over Minnesota in the Northwest Division. In the West, the team held the top seed by four games over Memphis and was nine games ahead of the Pelicans to remain in a guaranteed playoff spot. Against Orlando, Denver bolted to a 12-0 lead three minutes into the game but saw things unravel from there. The Nuggets trailed by three after the opening quarter and by 10 at the half. Denver was unable to get closer than three in the second half as the Magic held them at bay. The Nuggets shot 46.4% from the field, including 10 of 33 from three-point range, and turned the ball over 16 times in the loss. Aaron Gordon led the way for Denver with 37 points and 13 rebounds in the loss. Denver traded Bones Hyland to the Clippers Thursday afternoon in exchange for 2nd-round picks in the 2024 and 2025 NBA drafts. They sent three second-round picks to the Lakers to acquire center Thomas Bryant, adding some depth behind Nikola Jokic at the center position.
On the year, Denver is 7th in the league in scoring offense with an average of 117.1 points per game this season. The Nuggets are 20th in rebounding by collecting 42.6 boards per contest while they are 2nd by dishing out an average of 28.8 assists a night. Denver stands 13th in scoring defense as they give up an average of 113 points a night. Nikola Jokic is leading the team in scoring with 24.8 points, 11.3 rebounds and 10.1 assists a night this season. Jamal Murray (20.2 points, 5.8 assists), Aaron Gordon (17.3 points, 6.9 rebounds), Michael Porter Jr. (16.8 points, 5.4 rebounds) and Thomas Bryant (12.1 points) each are solid scoring options. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (11.3 points), Bruce Brown (11.1 points), Jeff Green, DeAndre Jordan and Christian Braun are among the other players that coach Michael Malone calls on in the rotation. The Nuggets are 1st in the league in field goal percentage as they shoot 51% from the floor. Denver is 14th as they connect on 12.2 three-pointers a night while the team is 1st as they knock down 39.5% of their attempts from beyond the arc.
Collin Gillespie (leg) remains out indefinitely after having surgery to repair a broken leg. Murray (knee) missed three straight games while Zeke Nnaji (shoulder) missed the last two games. Both are considered day-to-day so watch for updates.
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