Nuggets game day: Denver faces the one team it hopes to avoid in playoffs

If the Nuggets advance to the playoffs for the first time since 2013, Darrell Arthur is only anxious about facing one team.

“Honestly, I don’t really want to see Houston,” Arthur said last week on the BSN Nuggets Podcast. “That’s the only team. I feel like we match up pretty good with Golden State. With Kawhi (Leonard) being out, I feel like we match up pretty well against San Antonio as well. It really doesn’t matter. I just don’t want to see Houston. I feel like in the last couple of years we haven’t matched up good against them.”

The Nuggets have already beaten the Warriors and Spurs twice this season. But in their two previous matchups against the Rockets, they’ve gotten blown out. The Rockets blasted them 125-95 in November and beat them down again 130-104 on Feb. 9. On Sunday, Denver will face Houston for the final time during the regular season (6 p.m., Altitude).

“We got blown out twice, but I thought the second blowout was better than the first,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “If you had to grade the blowouts, I thought the second blowout was better than the first blowout. The second game, it comes down to the three-point line. We went 3 of 28. I’d say the large majority of those 28 threes were good shots that just did not go down. When they hit 18 or 19 threes and you only hit three, you’re swimming uphill.”

The Nuggets made a season-low three three-pointers when they played the Rockets earlier this month. It was an uncharacteristic off night for a team that ranks third in offensive rating in in its last 13 games. Denver will need to keep rolling on the offensive end if it wants to have a chance Sunday.

“Even though we always talk about how our defense has to be better, our offense really has to keep us in the game tomorrow,” Malone said. “If you can’t keep pace with their scoring, it’s going to be a tough night. We need our offense to continue to play at the high level it has for the last 13 games.”

The Nuggets, who have won 10 of their last 13 games, are playing their best basketball of the season. The Rockets are playing exceptional basketball as well. They’ve won 11 in a row and 20 of their last 24 games.

James Harden (31.1 points per game) and Chris Paul (19.1 points per game) are Houston’s first- and second-leading scorers. Eric Gordon (18.5 points per game), the team’s third-leading scorer, could be unavailable. He is listed as questionable with an illness.

The Nuggets will be without Paul Millsap and two-way player Torrrey Craig. Millsap practiced again Saturday and is slowly working his way back into game shape. He injured his left wrist Nov. 19 against the Lakers but could return over the next couple of weeks. Craig is recovering from a left hamstring strain, the team said.

The Rockets (45-13) are first in the Western Conference going into Sunday’s game. The Nuggets (33-26) sit in sixth.

Nuggets Projected Starters

Jamal Murray, Gary Harris, Will Barton, Wilson Chandler, Nikola Jokic

Rockets Projected Starters

Chris Paul, James Harden, Trevor Ariza, P.J. Tucker, Clint Capela