Nets at Nuggets
The Brooklyn Nets possess the worst record in the NBA but they have experienced success against the Denver Nuggets in recent campaigns. Brooklyn posted a 116-111 home victory against Denver earlier this season and looks to down the host Nuggets for the seventh consecutive time Friday.
Brooklyn has lost 14 consecutive games and 25 of its last 26 in a highly disappointing season under first-year coach Kenny Atkinson. The Nets are 2-23 on the road and the contest in Denver is the first of the eight-game Circus Trip that means Brooklyn won't play at home again until March 12 against the New York Knicks. The Nuggets are in eighth place in the Western Conference but their lead decreased after falling 116-100 to the Sacramento Kings on Thursday for their seventh setback in the past 11 games. Denver is a half-game ahead of Sacramento and one game ahead of the Portland Trail Blazers with the New Orleans Pelicans lurking 2 1/2 games behind.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, YES (Brooklyn), Altitude (Denver)
ABOUT THE NETS (9-47): Brooklyn shipped second-leading scorer Bojan Bogdanovic (14.2 average) to the Washington Wizards earlier this week with part of the return being a first-round draft pick and journeyman forward Andrew Nicholson. Bogdanovic's average is the best of his career, but the 27-year-old is a free agent after the season and the Nets didn't view him as part of their long-term future. Sean Kilpatrick, who is averaging 13.5 points, figures to receive a bigger role despite an inconsistent nature that has seen him reach double digits in just four of the past nine games.
ABOUT THE NUGGETS (25-32): Forwards Danilo Gallinari (groin), Kenneth Faried (ankle) and Wilson Chandler (illness) returned to the lineup against the Kings and two of the three played well. Chandler, who missed two games, scored 18 points off the bench and Gallinari (missed eight games) had 15 points while Faried struggled to two points on 1-of-7 shooting and three rebounds after missing the previous four games. Shooting guard Gary Harris posted his second-best scoring effort of the season with 23 points and drained a season-high five 3-pointers.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Nets won their past three visits to Denver for their longest road winning streak against the Nuggets in franchise history.
2. Denver acquired C Roy Hibbert from the Milwaukee Bucks for a second-round draft pick.
3. Brooklyn waived SG Marcus Thornton, one day after he was acquired as part of the Bogdanovic deal.