Denver Nuggets seek first four game win streak, face Washington Wizards tonight

The Denver Nuggets look to continue one of the best stretches of their 2015-16 campaign as they host the Washington Wizards in the finale of their current seven game homestand. The Nuggets have won four of five in the month of March, are 4-2 during their homestand, and a win against the Wizards would mark Denver’s first four game winning streak of the season.

Emmanuel Mudiay is coming off of a career high 30 point effort against the Phoenix Suns, so he and the Nuggets will be riding a wave of confidence as they face a Washington team coming off of a 114-93 loss to the Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City last night. The dreaded Utah-Denver back-to-back road trip will be a major factor and the Nuggets will have to take advantage by pushing the pace all night long in the Mile High City.

Bradley Beal’s Bumps and Bruises

The Washington Wizards’ disappointing season currently has them on the outside looking in at the Eastern Conference playoffs — after sweeping the Toronto Raptors in last season’s playoff, and returning much of the same roster. A lot of that can be chalked up to Bradley Beal’s inability to stay on the court this year.

Beal sat out for over a month between December and January with a stress reaction in his right leg and has seen his court time reduced from the 30-40 minute range before the injury, to the 20-30 minute range since. He has also started just 21 of the 41 games he has played in this year after coming off of the Wizards bench in just 14 games in his first three seasons in the NBA.

Beal is currently dealing with a “sprained pelvis” (ouch!) and missed the last two games in Portland and Utah, though there were rumors he was close to returning against the Jazz, so there’s a chance he’ll see the court in Denver. When Beal has been healthy enough to play, he is averaging a career high 17.8 points despite his reduced playing time, so it will certainly be something to watch for as the opening tip approaches.

Toupane or not Toupane

Axel Toupane‘s 10-day contract comes to an end soon and the Nuggets will have to decide whether or not to offer him a second one. If his playing time in the Nuggets win over the Suns on Thursday night is any indication, a second contract should be all but assured. Not only did Toupane hit two of his four 3-point attempts, but he played solid team and individual defense and contributed a career high 10 points, two assists and two rebounds in his 15 minutes on the court.

More impressive than the minutes themselves are the fact that he was on the court for much of the fourth quarter when the game was still in the balance, indicating that he has gained a significant amount of head coach Michael Malone’s trust in his short time in Denver. The crunch time minutes are especially notable when considering this quote from Malone when Topane was initially signed by the Nuggets on March 3rd:

“We brought Axel up to get a look at him, and the reality is during practice this late in the season, there will not be enough time to put him in live, 5-on-5 situations. So, it’s my responsibility to find a way, within the next 10 days, whether it’s (against the Nets) or moving forward, to get him out there.”

Needless to say, whether it has been in practice or in games, Toupane has earned Malone’s trust and shown enough to get at least another 10-day, if not the rest of the season with the team at just 23 years-old.

Whose Got Next?

While Danilo Gallinari was a rock for the Nuggets all season before his ankle injury and Kenneth Faried has morphed back into the Manimal recently, the rest of the Nuggets’ youngsters have taken turns in the spotlight night in and night out. Thursday night was undoubtedly Emmanuel Mudiay’s turn, but he will have his hands full trying to limit the speedy and athletic John Wall, so the torch could easily be passed back on to Gary Harris, Will Barton or Nikola Jokic tonight.

Jokic is averaging 16.0 points, 9.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.6 blocks and 1.2 steals in March in just 28.8 minutes per game. He has been getting better and better as the season has progressed and constantly earns praise from his head coach.

Joffrey Lauvergne has been playing better of late, especially since the Nuggets’ acquisition of D.J. Augustin from the Oklahoma City Thunder at the trade deadline. So, he’s certainly due for another solid performance and it’s just as plausible that JaKarr Sampson or Toupane have a breakout game against a tired Wizards team that’s not ready for their energy.

The dark horse, of course, is Jusuf Nurkic, who saw his first minutes of playing time in over two weeks against the Suns and looked more in control and focused than he had for most of the season. Nurkic played just over four minutes against the Suns, but he was productive in limited time. It would be great to see the Bosnian Beast show some signs of the monster in the paint that he was at the end of last season, even if Nikola Jokic has solidified his place as the Nuggets’ center of the (present and) future.

The city of Denver is having their St. Patrick’s Day parade today downtown, we’ll see if the luck of the Irish rubs off on the Nuggets tonight as they aim for their first four game win streak of the season.