Spurs at Nuggets
The Denver Nuggets’ up-and-down campaign just hit one of its lowest points in a 43-point loss to the Golden State Warriors. The Nuggets will get a chance to bounce right back and snap a three-game slide when they host the defending champion San Antonio Spurs in the second of a back-to-back on Tuesday. Denver had won five straight before its most recent slide, which includes a home loss to the Western Conference-worst Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Spurs have been showing off their defense while winning five of the last six and are coming off an 89-69 triumph over Utah on Sunday. “I think we did a great job,” center Tiago Splitter told SA.com after the win. “We played well and rotated a lot. Everybody played solid.” The only spot on the floor where the Nuggets seem to be getting production is point guard, where Jameer Nelson has scored in double figures in three straight games since joining the team as Ty Lawson’s backup.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, FSN Southwest (San Antonio), Altitude (Denver)
ABOUT THE SPURS (26-16): San Antonio got a big lift when forward Kawhi Leonard (hand) returned from a 15-game absence to score 20 points in a win over Portland on Friday, and he followed up with 12 points against the Jazz while shaking off a hard fall. “I was scared to death, because he started feeling his hand and everything,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich told reporters. “That’s the one test you can’t give him before he plays. We don’t whack his hand against the wall and ask, ‘How does that feel?’ We just have to put him in the game and hope nothing happens. So that was a good test.” Leonard had 18 points, six blocks and five steals in a 99-91 win at Denver on Dec. 12.
ABOUT THE NUGGETS (18-23): Lawson (19 points) and Nelson (14) were the only players to score in double figures in Monday’s 122-79 loss to the Warriors, during which Denver shot 34.5 percent from the field. “We played the best team in the league record-wise and I didn't feel like we competed at all from the very beginning of the game, all the way through," Nuggets coach Brian Shaw told reporters. “Hustle points, rebounding, sharing the ball, just everything. They beat us in every aspect of the game.” Arron Afflalo is 11-of-39 from the field in the last three games to lead the collective slump.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Nuggets G Randy Foye is 1-of-13 from the field in two games since returning from a torn quad.
2. The Spurs have taken four straight in the series, including the last three at Denver.
3. San Antonio G Marco Belinelli (groin) will miss his sixth straight game.