Hawks at Nuggets
The Denver Nuggets were the best home team in the NBA last season, dropping just three games in their own building. When the Nuggets host the Atlanta Hawks on Thursday, they’ll be trying to avoid matching that mark just three home games into the 2013-14 campaign. Denver finished third in the Western Conference last season but waved goodbye to coach George Karl following an early playoff exit, replacing him with Brian Shaw.
Shaw was frustrated with his teams’ effort after a 102-94 home loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday that included 23 turnovers from the Nuggets. “I’m tired of doing my postgame interview with this result,” Shaw said. “I promise it won’t stay that way but it’s a process. We’ve got to keep learning and get better.” The Hawks are operating under their own first-year head coach in Mike Budenholzer but are off to a better start and are coming off a win at Sacramento.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, SportsSouth (Atlanta), Altitude (Denver)
ABOUT THE HAWKS (2-2): Atlanta brought in Paul Millsap in the offseason to make up for the loss of Josh Smith and got a good idea of the kind of production the frontcourt is capable of when Millsap (25 points and 11 rebounds) and Al Horford (27 and 10) each recorded a double-double in Tuesday’s 105-100 triumph over the Kings. “I think both Paul and Al stepped up for us,” Budenholzer said. “They are working well off each other.” The area of concern is on the defensive end, where the Hawks are allowing opponents an average of 104.5 points.
ABOUT THE NUGGETS (0-3): Denver began last season 0-3 before storming its way to the top of the Northwest Division, but that campaign began with a three-game road trip on the East Coast. The Nuggets were the highest scoring team in the NBA last season at 106.1 points but have yet to reach the century mark in 2013-14. “We’re 0-3 but we could easily be 0-6 if we don’t keep it together because we have three or four tough road games (coming up),” point guard Ty Lawson said, “so we have to take care of ourselves.”
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Nuggets have not started 0-4 since the 1998-99 campaign.
2. Atlanta has dropped five of the last six in the series, including a 104-88 loss in Denver last season.
3. Denver F Wilson Chandler (hamstring) is getting closer to making his season debut.