Changing of the guards as Phoenix Suns face Denver Nuggets

The Phoenix Suns left their home court with their tails between their legs last night after getting hammered to the tune of a 128-97 loss to the New York Knicks — who had just left Denver with THEIR tails between their legs the night before after a 110-94 Nuggets victory that kept Carmelo Anthony winless at Pepsi Center since being traded from the Mile High City to New York. The Nuggets have won three of their four games in March so far, and will have the advantage of taking on a tired Suns team, so it will take a focused effort from this young Denver Nuggets squad not to overlook their opponent tonight while thinking about their seven-game homestand finale against the Washington Wizards on Saturday.

New Look Backcourts

In each of the first three matchups between these teams, a different guard that is unlikely to be playing tonight, scored at least 30 points to lead their team to victory. Game 1 saw Brandon Knight pour in 38 points including 6-10 shooting from beyond the arc, game two was Eric Bledsoe‘s turn as he notched 30 points on 11-16 shooting and finally, in December, Randy Foye led the Nuggets to their only victory of the season against the Suns so far with 31 points, including 7 made 3-pointers.

Bledsoe is out for sure with torn meniscus in his left knee, Knight is questionable with a left adductor strain and Randy Foye is sitting in the corner in Oklahoma City waiting for Russell Westbrook or Kevin Durant to look his way for an open three, so if the backcourt is to have a starring role again, it’ll likely be Emmanuel Mudiay, Gary Harris or Suns’ rookie Devin Booker who takes the mantle. As the season has progressed, however, Nuggets’ rookie Nikola “Magic” Jokic and Suns’ third-year 7-footer Alex Len have had much more prominent roles for their respective teams, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see the game come down to that battle in the paint either.

Manimal Unleashed

Kenneth Faried has looked like a brand new Manimal ever since the most recent injury to Danilo Gallinari. Gallo’s absence left the Nuggets with a major lack of veteran leadership on the floor, but Faried’s recent play and energy have gone a long way towards mitigating the Rooster’s absence. The Manimal has notched double-doubles in six of the Nuggets’ last seven games (the only miss was against the Lakers in a game in which he only played 18 minutes), and his improved play was exemplified in Sunday’s monster 25 point, 20 rebound performance in a win against the Dallas Mavericks.

The Nuggets look like a different team when the Manimal is doing Manimal things, so let’s hope this performance is sustainable down the stretch as the Nuggets look to build some momentum heading into next season.

Audition Time

As the season comes to a close with the Nuggets essentially out of the Western Conference playoff hunt, it’s time for the young players on the roster to prove that they’re worth inking into the Nuggets’ long-term plans. With Emmanuel Mudiay, Gary Harris and Nikola Jokic solidifying their places in the Nuggets roation, it’s players like the recently-signed JaKarr Sampson and Axel Toupane, or big men Jusuf Nurkic and Joffrey Lauvergne, who have the most to prove down the stretch.

Sampson has played admirably and with great energy filling in for the injured Gallinari and Toupane has shown some flashes of strong defensive ability as he gets used to the speed of the game in the NBA. If either of them can show a consistent 3-point shot, that could put them over the top as a potential 3-and-D prize for the future.

King Joffrey and the Bosnian Beast will an interesting watch as Joffrey has been effective when given time on the court and Nurkic has only seen playing time in two games since the All-Star break, and only really been effective in two games in his injury-plagued season (double-doubles in wins against the Timberwolves and Pistons).

There’s no doubt that Nurkic is the more naturally talented player and provides the Nuggets with a presence in the paint that no other player on the roster can provide, but Joffrey’s contributions and consistency have been valuable in Nurkic’s absence and his ability to hit shots from 3-point range is invaluable in today’s NBA. Hopefully Nurkic will get a chance to prove himself on the court as the season winds down and the Nuggets will see what they need to see in order to figure out the best way to take the next step back to prominence in the Western Conference this offseason.