Nuggets at Hornets
The Charlotte Hornets are locked in a four-way battle for the No. 3 spot in the Eastern Conference and earned a huge road win at Miami on Thursday. The Hornets host the Denver Nuggets on Saturday in search of their 10th win in 11 games this month.
Charlotte is 17-4 since Jan. 31 and is in a cluster with Miami, Atlanta and Boston in search of the No. 3 spot in the East and gets Denver and San Antonio at home in the next two games before playing nine of its final 12 games on the road, where it owns a 13-19 record. The Hornets looked plenty comfortable on the road Thursday, when they buried 13 3-pointers and overcame a 15-point, second-quarter deficit in a 109-106 win. The Nuggets have been very helpful to Eastern Conference teams looking to improve their postseason hopes on their current road trip, already falling at Miami, Orlando and Atlanta. Denver had won four straight before hitting the road but has allowed an average of 118.7 points during the three-game slide.
TV: 6 p.m. ET, Altitude (Denver), FSN Southeast (Charlotte)
ABOUT THE NUGGETS (28-41): Denver allowed the Heat, Magic and Hawks to shoot a combined 54.6 percent from the field, and coach Mike Malone is questioning his team’s effort. “Maybe some guys are starting to just kind of mail it in. I'm not sure," Malone told reporters. “But I'm not going to stand for that. I'll just find a group of guys that will compete and play hard and play the right way, and play them 48 minutes if I have to.” The Nuggets’ starters all finished at least a minus-19 in Thursday’s 116-98 loss at Atlanta.
ABOUT THE HORNETS (39-29): Charlotte heads into the weekend a half-game behind the third-place Hawks and is coming on strong with the best record since the All-Star break among East teams. Kemba Walker continues to lead the charge and put up 21 points, seven rebounds and seven assists in the win over Miami on Thursday, and backcourt mate Nicolas Batum is averaging 19.2 points and 8.4 assists in the last five contests. The Hornets were outscored 58-26 in the paint on Thursday but dominated on the perimeter, including forward Marvin Williams’ 4-of-5 effort from 3-point range.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Nuggets F Kenneth Faried (back) sat out Thursday and is day-to-day.
2. Charlotte C Cody Zeller left Thursday’s game with a knee injury and did not return.
3. Denver snapped a four-game losing streak in the series with a 95-92 home win on Jan. 10.