Nuggets at Nets
The Denver Nuggets are two games into a six-game road trip and will not face an opponent with a winning record the rest of the way. The Nuggets showed what they could do against a sub-.500 team with a 106-98 triumph in Philadelphia on Monday and will try to pull off the same effort when they visit the stumbling Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday.
Denver dropped three straight, including the opener of the road trip at Utah, before bouncing back in Philadelphia behind Danilo Gallinari and Will Barton. Gallinari scored a season-high 24 points in the win and is finding his form from beyond the arc while knocking down 6-of-12 in the last three games to raise his season percentage to 36.8. Gallinari, who averages 4.8 3-point attempts, would fit right in with Nets coach Kenny Atkinson and his long-range offensive philosophy, which has yet to result in a big number in the win column. Brooklyn fell 118-113 at home against Washington on Monday to lose its third straight and fall for the 10th time in the last 11 games.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, Altitude (Denver), YES (Brooklyn)
ABOUT THE NUGGETS (8-13): Shooting guard Jamal Murray was named the Western Conference Rookie of the Month for October/November but went into a funk as the calendar turned and was 1-of-11 from the floor in the first two games of December, including a scoreless effort at Utah on Saturday. Murray broke out of the slump while going up against Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month Joel Embiid and the 76ers on Monday, pouring in 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting in 24 minutes off the bench. Murray and veteran small forward Wilson Chandler (18.2 points) give Denver a pair of potent scorers off the bench to compliment Gallinari and Barton.
ABOUT THE NETS (5-15): Brooklyn hoists an average of 34.8 3-point attempts a night - second in the NBA behind the Houston Rockets - but connects at a 32.9-percent clip. The Nets were a more modest 11-of-27 from beyond the arc on Monday but still could not figure anything out on the defensive end while allowing Washington to shoot 48.4 percent from the floor. Brooklyn is allowing opponents an NBA-high 114.4 points while allowing them to shoot 47.2 percent from the floor - 29th in the league entering play on Tuesday.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Nuggets C Nikola Jokic (wrist) sat out the last three games and is day-to-day.
2. Nets F Trevor Booker (illness) sat out Saturday but return on Monday and delivered a double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds.
3. Brooklyn won both meetings last season by a total of two points.