Nuggets at Cavaliers
The Denver Nuggets are trying to find their top level with some consistency and use it to fight off the Los Angeles Clippers and a host of other teams gunning for the No. 2 spot in the Western Conference. The Nuggets will try to avoid playing down to the competition and improve to 2-0 on a stretch with nine of 11 on the road when they visit the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday.
Denver sits in the No. 3 spot in the West but dropped a home game to the NBA-worst Golden State Warriors on Tuesday and had to overcome an eight-point deficit in the fourth quarter and get a go-ahead shot from Jamal Murray to take out the sub-.500 Charlotte Hornets 114-112 in the opener of the trip on Thursday. "Give Jamal Murray credit, he wound up making a very tough shot," Nuggets coach Michael Malone told reporters. "Give our guys credit, this wasn't the greatest game we've ever played, but we found a way to win." The Cavaliers are battling through a rough stretch of schedule and are set to face their fourth consecutive playoff contender after falling to Indiana, Utah and Boston to begin the five-game homestand. Cleveland is enduring a four-game losing streak which began with a loss at New Orleans on Feb. 26 and will face four straight teams with losing records after seeing Denver.
TIME: 7:30 p.m. ET. TV: Altitude, FS Ohio
ABOUT THE NUGGETS (42-20): Malone called out his players in a film session after the loss to the Warriors and focused on the team's issues defensively since coming back from the All-Star break. "The best part about it is that film doesn't lie," Malone told reporters. "I can tell them we're not playing hard enough, I can tell them that we're not getting back in transition, I can tell them we have to take care of the ball, but when they see it on film, and it's pointed out and it's stopped, and it's rewound, and it's showed again, there is no debate." Denver still allowed Charlotte to shoot 49.4 percent from the floor but got a better defensive effort out of the reserves with Torrey Craig replacing Michael Porter Jr. in the rotation.
ABOUT THE CAVALIERS (17-45): Cleveland is headed for the lottery but is developing a star in second-year guard Collin Sexton, who has taken off over the last two months and is emerging as an efficient go-to scorer. Sexton posted a career-high 41 points on 17-of-30 shooting in a 112-106 loss to the Celtics on Wednesday and scored 30 or more in three of the last four contests. "His mindset and his ability allow him to do things that other people can't," Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff told reporters of Sexton. "There's not that many guys that have the speed that he has, the ability to finish the way that he can. The thing I was most proud of even though he got to 41, he was making the right basketball play over and over again. He created for his teammates, got his teammates open shots."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Nuggets All-Star C Nikola Jokic recorded his third straight double-double and narrowly missed a triple-double with 14 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists on Thursday.
2. Cavaliers C Andre Drummond (calf), PG Darius Garland (groin), C Tristan Thompson (knee) and SG Kevin Porter Jr. (concussion) are all questionable for Saturday.
3. Cleveland earned a 111-103 win at Denver on Jan. 11 behind 25 points from Sexton.