The Nuggets continue their East Coast road trip tonight in Washington D.C. against the Wizards. Denver is 17-29 and will be looking to end their two game losing streak against the 20-23 Wizards, who also lost their last two games. The key to a Denver victory tonight will be the Nuggets taking better care of the basketball after committing 20 turnovers in last night’s loss to the Celtics in Boston.
When
Thursday, Jan. 28th at 5:00 p.m. MST
Where
Verizon Center – Washington, District of Columbia
Nuggets Injury Report
Jameer Nelson – Sprained Left Wrist, Probable
Nikola Jokic – Right Knee Tibial Contusion, Probable
Darrell Arthur – Left Quad Strain, Questionable
Joffrey Lauvergne -Right First Toe Paronychia, Questionable
Wilson Chandler – Right Hip Arthroscopic Surgery, Out
Quick Shots – Nuggets
Emmanuel Mudiay is averaging 12.1 points and 5.4 assists per game since returning from an ankle injury that had sidelined him for a month on January 10th. In the past few weeks, Mudiay has seemed more stable and in charge of the offense than he did to begin the season. He must continue to improve on taking care of the ball and finding consistency with his jump-shot, yet the progress shown recently is an encouraging sign that he will be able to do just that. Yesterday it was announced that Mudiay and fellow Nuggets rookie Nikola Jokic will participate in the 2016 Rising Stars Challenge on All-Star Weekend in Toronto. The combination of Mudiay and Jokic looks to be the foundation of the Nuggets future.
Will Barton has posted back-to-back 20 point games and seems to be finding his shot again after struggling a bit during the middle of January. The development and evolution of Barton’s game this season has been a joy to watch as he is one of the most engaging professional athletes in sports today. Barton waited for his opportunity and has taken full advantage of it this season with the Nuggets as he is averaging 15.7 points per game — which triples his career points per game average heading into this season.
On the season Denver is 6-7 against Eastern Conference competition with road victories against the Raptors and 76ers. Last night’s game in Boston was the first time Denver had scored 100 plus points on the road and lost to a team from the East. Overall the Nuggets are 14-13 when scoring 100 or more points this year, meaning they are 3-16 when failing to hit the century mark. That is a stat which must improve.
Quick Shots – Wizards
Washington has struggled to meet the high expectations they had coming into the season after going 46-36 and sweeping Toronto in the opening round of the playoffs last season. Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post had some great insight into why that has been the case in his column yesterday.
Nene will face off against his old team tonight, although it’s a much different team than the one he was traded from in 2012 for JaVale McGee. In retrospect the Wizards seem to have won that trade as McGee flashed promise at times with the Nuggets, but never found the level of consistent success that Nene has enjoyed during his 13 year career.
Final Shot
This is the first meeting between Denver and Washington this season. Both teams come in within striking distance of the NBA Playoffs looking to get on track and break out of their recent slumps. Tonight’s keys for the Nuggets will be taking care of the basketball and defense, as Washington has topped 100 points in each of their past 13 victories.
