Nuggets visit Wizards on a quick turnaround, set their sights on another winnable game

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Regular Season Game No. 23 | Denver Nuggets (8-14) at Washington Wizards (7-13)

Verizon Center, Washington D.C. | 5:00 PM MST | TV: Altitude

The Denver Nuggets nearly overcame a 29-point second-half deficit against the Brooklyn Nets but eventually fell 116-111 and to 8-14 on the season. Denver now sets their sights on the John Wall led Washington Wizards.

After a deflating loss to the Nets, the Nuggets are now losers of six games in their last eight contests. For the Nuggets to get back on track against Washington they have a few tasks ahead of them.

Limit John Wall and Bradley Beal

The Wizards have struggled to start the year and it has overshadowed how talented their backcourt of Wall and Beal is. The Nuggets have had issues containing guards recently and they will have another big test when facing the Wizards.

Wall is coming off of a 52-point performance where he shot 18-31 from the field and 5- from distance against the Orlando Magic while Beal is scoring a career-best 21.5 points per game and shooting a career-high 41.5 percent from beyond the arc.

If the Nuggets are to come away with a victory in our Nation’s capital it will start on the perimeter. If the Nuggets let either Wall or Beal do what they please it will open up the paint for Marcin Gortat to feast. Look for the Nuggets to continue the trend of having their defender that gets screened help off of the high pick and roll, that Wall and the Wizards will undoubtably throw at the Nuggets all day, to help keep Wall from waltzing into the paint.

Which Nuggets will show up?

In the Nuggets’ loss to the Nets it was a tale of two Nuggets teams. One team came out of the gate sluggish and struggled to defend, shoot, pass, or control the tempo of the game. The other Nuggets team finished with a fury by gobbling up offensive rebounds, valuing the ball, and making it a point to get shots up. This is really a microcosm for how the Nuggets have looked all season.

The Nuggets have played good basketball in spurts this season but have not put it together for a full 48-minute stretch. To put this in perspective think of it this way: The Nuggets’14.2 NetRtg in first quarters this season are second-worst in the league but their 9.6 NetRtg in second quarters ranks fifth league-wide. The same principle holds true for the third quarter where they have the 25th-best NetRtg at -8.1 and the fourth quarter, where their -3.4 net rating is still towards the bottom of the league but not nearly as bad as the first and third quarters. This has to do with the starting lineup being particularly bad but the Nuggets as a whole struggle to come out of the gate with energy and tenacity.

The Nuggets are traveling and will be taking on the Wizards on the second night of a back-to-back. They will be fatigued after putting on a show in the fourth quarter in their attempted comeback against the Nets. While this game is somewhat of a scheduled loss, it presents a unique opportunity for the Nuggets to put together a full 48-minutes and take a big step towards learning how to win as a young team by proving to themselves that they can do it.

Will the starting lineup be the same?

Michael Malone sent a very clear message after the loss to the Nets when asked about the struggles of the starting lineup.

“We have to look at everything,” Malone said. Forget the wins and losses it’s how we played. We’ll look at starting groups and combinations.”

Emmanuel Mudiay has recorded just one assist in the past three games and is shooting 34.8 percent from the field coupled with a measly 26.5 percent from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, Jameer Nelson has been playing his basketball in a Nuggets jersey which begs the question if Malone will bench the struggling young rookie. This is a much more complex decision once you look closer. Mudiay is only 20-years-old and has never been out of the starting lineup as a member of the Nuggets. Benching him could be a substantial hit to his confidence which seems to be low already. The way for young players to develop is to let them play through their mistakes and the Nuggets should continue on that route for Mudiay.

Jusuf Nurkic has struggled badly himself. After a monstrous preseason and a torrid start to the regular season Nurkic is averaging 7.4 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.1 turnovers per game. In the last five games, Nurkic has a net rating of -34.1 and a defensive rating of 121.1. Although Nikola Jokic only has one game under his belt since his wrist injury, I would be surprised if he started at center over Nurkic, who has started every game this season. However, Jokic does have three consecutive double-doubles going back before his wrist injury and has looked much more comfortable as of late.

When it comes to Kenneth Faried, the argument is much more straight forward. Faried has shown spurts of defensive energy and fundamentals that we had not seem from him until now but he still has many defensive mental lapses. Malone even elected to start Darrell Arthur in his place in the second half of the loss to the Nets. It seems the safest bet for a change in the starting lineup would to bring the defensive versatility and shooting ability of Arthur into the starting lineup now that he is back in game shape and put Faried back on the bench.