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The Denver Nuggets are really good. The Nets are really injured - but, they are also a very good basketball team, all things considering.
Denver comes in having lost three of their last four, with their only win in that span coming against a Knicks team that really wasn’t trying to win. So while the Nuggets are among the best teams in the NBA, they’re in a bit of a rut.
Opportunity? The way these Kyrie Irving-less Nets have been playing, this should be a fun one.
WHO: Brooklyn Nets (12-10) vs. Denver Nuggets (14-6)
WHEN: 3:00 PM EST
WHERE: YES Network (tv), WFAN (radio), Barclays Center (live)
With very few exceptions in modern basketball history, championship teams need elite perimeter players if they want to win big. Can Jamal Murray be that person for Denver? Murray is the second half of the dynamic duo and he’s taken a step forward this year. His turnovers are reasonably low for a player who has to initiate offense in the ways he does and he does a quality job getting good looks for his teammates. His three point rate is down while his long twos are up. That’s surprising considering the paradigm of the modern NBA, but it’s been working for him so eh.
One more chance for Spencer Dinwiddie to show out. Dinwiddie didn’t score in bunches like he usually does, but he did hand out a team high 12 assists on Friday. Joe Harris had the hot hand so it made sense that they were tied in shot attempts as well.
For more on the Nuggets, check out Denver Stiffs.
Key thing to watch for: Jamal Murray — Sunday killer
During the first three Sunday games this season, Murray is averaging 25.3 points, 4.3 assists, and 57.8% True Shooting. Had he not been knocked out briefly from the T’Wolves game, those numbers would look even more impressive. Murray was 1-for-11 from the field the last time these two teams played, and though he impacted the game in other ways, the Nuggets could use Sunday Murray at the game today. He could genuinely help Denver take care of business here, and after a subpar performance in Boston, he will want to bounce back.