Nuggets at Hornets
The Denver Nuggets just lost to the worst team in the NBA and now they head on the road for back-to-back games against two other teams well below .500. Denver looks to rebound from a disappointing home loss to the Golden State Warriors when they visit the Charlotte Hornets on Thursday.
The Nuggets visit the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday, while Tuesday's 116-100 setback against the Warriors continued a trend of Denver playing down to the competition. "It happens," Nuggets All-Star center Nikola Jokic told reporters. "We've shown that we can beat the best teams record-wise and that we can lose to the worst teams record-wise. They came in here and made a lot of shots and were aggressive." Charlotte fell 104-103 to the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday to see its home record drop to a woeful 9-20. Guard Devonte' Graham, who averages 17.6 points and 7.5 assists, sat out against the Spurs due to an ankle injury and is questionable for Thursday's contest.
TIME: 7 p.m. ET. TV: Altitude, FS Southeast, NBA TV Canada
ABOUT THE NUGGETS (41-20): Denver dropped to third place in the Western Conference due to a 3-4 stretch and it let a 12-point, third-quarter lead get away in the setback against Golden State. "We didn't come with energy and didn't play defense," Nuggets reserve big man Mason Plumlee said afterward. "I'm not sure what it is, but we haven't been good against those teams. We've got to be better." Plumlee recorded 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting and collected nine rebounds in just 14 minutes against the Warriors.
ABOUT THE HORNETS (21-40): Charlotte lost two straight games after winning five of its previous seven and coach James Borrego was optimistic after the one-point loss to the Spurs. "We weren’t perfect, but we played hard, competed against a good team and had a chance to win it at the end, just too many turnovers," Borrego told reporters. "Without Devonte’, other guys were handling the ball and that was an issue for us with turnovers. In general, we fought and competed.” Guard Terry Rozier registered 20 points, six rebounds and five assists and committed just one of the club's 17 turnovers.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. F Michael Porter Jr. scored a team-high 19 points as the Nuggets recorded a 100-86 home victory over the Hornets on Jan. 15.
2. Denver PG Jamal Murray was 3-of-14 shooting - including missing all six 3-point attempts - while scoring 14 points against Golden State.
3. Charlotte PF PJ Washington was 5-of-9 from 3-point range versus the Spurs after being 5-of-22 over the previous three games.