Grizzlies at Nuggets
The Denver Nuggets are enduring their worst losing streak in more than a decade and are having trouble winning in their own building - a place in which they dominated in previous years. The Nuggets will attempt to halt an eight-game skid when they host the surging Memphis Grizzlies on Friday. The Grizzlies have won four of their last six and are coming off a strong performance in Phoenix that kicked off a three-game road trip.
The Nuggets ended a seven-game streak of scoring fewer than 100 points but could not get enough stops in a 114-102 home loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday. “We’ve hit rock bottom and we have nowhere to go but up from here,” forward J.J. Hickson told the team’s website. “Once we realize that, we’ll be better off. We just have to play harder.” Memphis has rediscovered some of the defensive form that carried it to the playoffs last season and is holding opponents to an average of 94.3 points in the last six contests.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, SportSouth (Memphis), Altitude (Denver)
ABOUT THE GRIZZLIES (14-17): Zach Randolph collected 20 points and 15 rebounds in the 99-91 victory in Phoenix and has eight double-doubles in the last 10 games as he waits for interior partner Marc Gasol to return from a sprained MCL. Randolph got some help on the inside from Ed Davis (16 points, 11 rebounds) on Thursday and former Nugget Kosta Koufos continues to bring solid minutes from the center spot. Memphis gets two more road games against teams with losing records in Denver and Detroit before going home to face four straight winning teams, including San Antonio and Oklahoma City.
ABOUT THE NUGGETS (14-17): Denver led the league with a 38-3 home record but has dropped five straight in its own building. “I feel like winning turns everything around,” Ty Lawson told the team’s website. “We have two or three more (home games) that we need to win, that are right there for us to win. We need to take advantage of those opportunities.” Lawson will go into Friday’s contest without his usual backup after veteran point guard Andre Miller was suspended two games for conduct detrimental to the team. Miller will sit out Friday and will not travel with the team to Los Angeles on Sunday.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Nuggets last dropped eight in a row over the final eight games of the 2002-03 season.
2. Memphis crushed Denver 120-99 on Dec. 28, behind 20 points from Randolph.
3. Hickson has recorded a double-double in three of the last four games.