The Denver Nuggets enter tonight’s game with a record of 6-8 and have dropped their last three. Denver will be looking to rebound from their 118-105 loss to the Golden State Warriors on Sunday night. It was a frustrating night defensively for the Nuggets as they allowed the Warriors to shoot 51.7 percent from 3-point range and 52.8 percent overall from the field. A visibly frustrated Coach Michael Malone called the team’s defensive efforts to guard the three point line “a joke”. It goes without saying that Denver needs to drastically improve in this area if they want to contend for a playoff spot in the Western Conference.
The Los Angeles Clippers come into Denver with a record of 6-7. After starting the season 4-0, Los Angeles has, also, lost their last three games and seven of the past nine games overall. The Clippers will be looking to snap this losing streak and get back on the winning side of things before their streak gets further out of control.
When
Tuesday, Nov. 24th at 7:00 p.m. MST
Where
Pepsi Center – Denver, CO
Quick Shots – Nuggets
Darrell Arthur made his first start of the year on Sunday night and responded with a season-high 21 points (on 9-12 shooting) and 8 rebounds in 34 minutes of action. The scoring explosion from Arthur was a pleasant surprise as he entered the game with a previous scoring high of 9 points, which came against San Antonio last Wednesday.
Danilo Gallinari struggled from the field against the Warriors. On the night, Gallo shot 4-16 but did manage to go 10-11 from the free-throw line as he finished with 19 points in the game. Look for the Italian to rebound with a much better shooting performance tonight against a Clippers lineup that will give him favorable match-ups against Paul Pierce and Josh Smith, both of whom have been struggling on the defensive end of the floor.
The Nuggets will be without Wilson Chandler, Jusuf Nurkic, Joffrey Lauvergne and Kenneth Faried tonight.
#Nuggets F Kenneth Faried is in a walking boot, did not go thru shootaround and is not expected to play tonight vs. Clippers.
— Chris Dempsey (@dempseypost) November 24, 2015
Quick Shots – Clippers
J.J. Redick enters the game shooting 42.6 percent from three paint range on the year. Redick has been a thorn in the side of the Nuggets throughout his career and will look to continue that trend tonight. The former Duke Blue Devil averaged 14.8 points against Denver in the teams four meetings last season, three of which were won by the Clippers.
After the Clippers loss on Sunday, Melissa Rohlin of The Los Angeles Times reported screaming being heard from the team’s locker room as reporters waited in the interview room for head coach Doc Rivers. Los Angeles all-star forward Blake Griffin said that he believes the frustration is normal and is hoping the team can make it a productive thing. Redick said “playing harder and executing the game-plan are the teams main issues” at the moment.
The Clippers have their full roster available for tonight’s game.
Final Shot
Denver and Los Angeles are both in desperate need of a win after each losing their past three games. This figures to be a highly competitive and physical contest that will likely come down to transition defense and free throw shooting. The Nuggets will need to defend the 3-point line against a Clippers squad with several potent outside shooters, while the Clippers must slow the game down and make Denver beat them inside.
