We don’t know of Nikola Jokic will play tonight. He’s missed the last two games with an illness, but the Nuggets are still the Nuggets.
Despite Noah Clowney having the game of his life with 27 points, the Nets came up short against the improved Detroit Pistons in. Not because of effort or underwhelming skill, but simply because there was simply not enough manpower. Jordi Fernandez took it all into account. calling the game a “good experience, again. And then the most important thing for me is fighting until the end, winning that fourth quarter. And that’s how we can watch it, learn it, and move on.”
Moving on is exactly what they are doing: The Brooklyn Nets are in the Denver tonight to face the Nuggets, the first day of an 11-day, 6-game road trip that will take them all the way to the West Coast, including two stops in L.A., before arriving back in New York for an Martin Luther King Day vs. the Knicks in Brooklyn.
The big news is that the injury bug has followed them west.
Where To Watch
Check out the action at 9:00 p.m. ET on the YES Network and NBA League Pass.
Injury Report
No Cam Thomas, Cam Johnson, Bojan Bogdanovic, Maxwell Lewis, D’Angelo Russell, DeAnthony Melton, Trendon Watford, or Dariq Whitehead. Ben Simmons is available.
On the Nuggets side, Nikola Jokic remains questionable for tonight’s contest due to an illness. It would be his third straight missed game. Aaron Gordon, Spencer Jones, DaRon Holmes III, and Vlatko Cancar are all out with injuries.
The Game
In the very beginning of the season, the Nuggets edged out the Nets in a 144-139 overtime classic. Times were pretty good. Dennis Schroeder ran the point, and six Brooklyn players were able to score at least 10 points despite the loss.
Now? The Nuggets have a strong presence out West as they sit fourth in the conference with a 21-15 record. With averages of 31.5 PPG, 13 RPG, and 9.7 APG on 55% from the field and a whopping 47% from beyond the arc (yes I said that correctly), Jokic’s potential absence will tell a large portion of the story of how this game can go. In the five games Jokic has missed this season, Denver is 2-3,
If he doesn’t play, Brooklyn can utilize their three young big men in Nic Claxton, Noah Clowney, and Day’Ron Sharpe to control the paint against an older DeAndre Jordan, even though the 36=year-old ex-Net did have a decent outing in their win against the Clippers as he added in 12 points. The Nuggets would have to rely on their backcourt to make things happen, as you can surely guarantee when you talk about players of Jamal Murray and Russell Westbrook’s caliber.
If Jokic does play, you just have to pray. Denver just runs so smoothly while he is on the court. The numbers back it up as well as the Nuggets sit first in the league with the most assists per game with 31.4 and the third most points scored per game with 120.5.
Without much to work with, it will be intriguing to see if Clowney can continue to be the spark for Brooklyn again. We’all be looking forward to how Keon Johnson will play as he has transformed into a player who barely played any minutes in the first matchup, to now being a starter.
Player To Watch: Michael Porter Jr.
Averaging 19 per contest, Porter Jr. has been lighting it up so far in the season, shooting 42% from three for the season. Porter is the type of player where you know he is going to get his shot off, especially with that high release. It depends on if he is missing, which he hasn’t been doing a lot of. It will be interesting to see if he can light it up once again tonight.
Porter has also been making up for the loss of Aaron Gordon, In the 19 games he’s missed, the Nuggets have been able to rack up W’s in 11 of them.
From the Vault
When Jimmy Carter is laid to rest this week, there will the usual debate about his presidential term and in Carter’s case what he did post presidency. One thing that doesn’t get a lot of attention was how he was the president to popularize inviting teams to the White House for post-championship celebrations.
It began when the Washington Bullets (now the Wizards) broke a decades long championship drought to win the NBA championship in 1978. The whole city turned out and the White House invited the team to an celebratory event.
Since then, of course, it’s become a tradition for pro teams, college squads and Olympians from a variety of sports. Rest in peace Mr. President.
- Brooklyn Nets Game Notes – Brooklyn Nets
- Denver Nuggets Game Notes – Denver Nuggets
- Injury-riddled Nets start road trip at Nuggets – Larry Fleisher – NBA
- Brooklyn takes on Denver, aims to stop 3-game slide – AP
- Nets roster has dramatically changed from last Nuggets clash – Bridget Reilly – New York Post
- Nets’ Noah Clowney showing promising development with 3-point shot – Bridget Reilly – New York Post