The Denver Nuggets will travel to Madison Square Garden to take on the dysfunctional New York Knicks while looking to recover their winning ways. The Knicks have lost five of their last six games and with Phil Jackson constantly taking shots at Carmelo Anthony it has become apparent the Knicks are currently as abysmal as a franchise can get.
Denver has lost four of their last six games and will be looking to pile up a few more wins before the All-Star break arrives. The Nuggets currently are one full game ahead of the Portland Trailblazers but with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors coming up after taking on the Knicks it is paramount to come away with a victory tonight.
Regular season game No. 53 | Denver Nuggets (23-29) vs New York Knicks (22-32)
Madison Square Garden, New York, New York | 5:30 PM MST | TV: Altitude
Nikola Jokic and Kristaps Porzingis
Both Porzingis and Jokic have cemented themselves as the next generation of big men in basketball. While their games differ in almost every way they still will be consistently compared and discussed who is the better player. Tonight gives both a chance to prove their point.
It is not breaking news to say Jokic is arguably the best passing big man in the NBA right now. His creativity, vision, and precision are second to none and he has become the engine that has powered the Nuggets offense that is second in basketball in offensive rating (113.5) to just the Warriors (114) since the infamous date of December 15th when Jokic was re-inserted as the starting center.
While the Nuggets trajectory has skyrocketed with Jokic at the helm it seems the Knicks are hesitant to begin to rebuild in that way. Phil Jackson has followed a different path to the playoffs by signing aging veterans to try and compete this year. Instead, the team has fallen apart with Carmelo Anthony being targeted by Jackson so as to force Anthony to waive his no-trade clause. While Derrick Rose has had a bounce back year of sorts it seems that Joakim Noah was arguably the worst free agent signing of the past offseason.
Both Jokic and Porzingis seem to take pride in playing against one another and expect more of the same tonight. If Jokic is able to win this matchup it bodes very well for the Nuggets leaving New York with a victory.
Footnotes
The Denver Nuggets will be without their starting power forward after Kenneth Faried sprained his ankle against the Atlanta Hawks. When Faried missed a game due to personal reasons Michael Malone decided to re-insert Will Barton into the starting lineup and slid Wilson Chandler back to power forward. Expect the same tonight.
Danilo Gallinari will miss his fifth straight game with his groin injury. He is hopeful to return early next week but he will once again be in a suit on the sidelines as the Nuggets take on his former team.
The Hernangomez brothers, Willy and Juancho, will get an opportunity to play against one another once again. With Gallinari and Faried being out it will force Chandler to play a lot of power forward opening the door for Juancho to play extended minutes off of the bench. Keep an eye on the Hernangomez brothers going at each other tonight.
