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The Denver Nuggets have now won four of their last five games and have taken a 1.5 game lead in the race for the eighth seed in the Western Conference. Next, they look to finish a stretch of five games in seven nights with a victory against a divisional rival, the Minnesota Timberwolves, who have won five of their last seven contests.
Regular season game No. 43 | Denver Nuggets (18-24) vs Minnesota Timberwolves (15-28)
Target Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota | 5:00 PM MST | TV: Altitude
Can the Nuggets continue to play defense?
The Denver Nuggets are now last in the league with a defensive rating of 110.1. It is no secret that the Nuggets have struggled to contain the perimeter and Nikola Jokic is not the type of center who erases the mistakes of poor perimeter containment. The path for the Nuggets to reach defensive mediocrity is through effort and intensity, traits that they displayed against the Clippers.
Against Los Angeles, the Nuggets played with vigor from start to finish. They were smothering when contesting shots and never gave up. The Clippers shot just 41.7 percent from the field and 31.3 percent from the field. Not only were they aggressive but they defended without fouling. The Clippers took just eight free-throws all night.
If the Nuggets can begin playing defense with this level of intensity they could find themselves putting together win streaks left and right. The offense is arguably top-five in the league and if compounded with an aggressive and passionate defense the Nuggets could really begin making some noise.
Towns vs Jokic
The NBA is lucky that two of the league best young big men in Karl-Anthony Towns and Jokic, are in the Northwest division. It can only be a positive thing that basketball fans get to witness Jokic and Towns go head to head as often as they do. Each player has transcendent talent and they always seem to want to prove something when they matchup across from each other.
In their last meeting, each led their respective teams throughout a thrilling game that ended with the Nuggets winning 105-103 at Pepsi Center. Towns put up triple-double with 15 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists while Jokic had 16 points, eight rebounds and 11 assists of his own. Both Towns and Jokic were the catalysts for their respective teams.
Expect much of the same tonight as the Nuggets continue to double Towns in the post, the way they have against every other opponent, giving him lots of chances to pass out of double teams to open shooters. Emmanuel Mudiay is also out so Jokic should be even more involved than he already has been.
