Magic at Nuggets
The Denver Nuggets hope to gain some momentum from a huge win on the road when they come home to face the improved Orlando Magic on Friday night. Denver had dropped six of seven games before holding on for a 103-101 victory at Minnesota on Wednesday as veteran forward Paul Millsap registered a season high-tying 25 points on 11-of-13 shooting.
“We just played free. Everybody played in attack mode,” Nuggets guard Monte Morris told the Denver Post. “Our players who need to make plays down the stretch went out and did it.” The Nuggets have dropped three of their last four at home after winning the first six and will be tested against a dangerous offensive team in Orlando, which scored at least 130 points in two wins before suffering a 93-91 loss to Toronto on Tuesday. The Magic have won seven of their last 10 games overall after a disappointing start and center Nikola Vucevic has played a big part, averaging a team-high 20 points overall - 27 over the last four contests. “He’s playing better than I’ve ever seen him play,” Toronto coach Nick Nurse told reporters of Vucevic. “It used to be he’d get 20 and 12 or something and it was like you didn’t even notice or it didn’t matter. But now, it’s in the rhythm of what they’re doing. He’s got this look on his face that says give me the ball and I’m going to score it.”
TV: 9 p.m. ET, FS Florida (Orlando), Altitude (Denver)
ABOUT THE MAGIC (9-9): Vucevic was held to 14 points Tuesday, but hauled in a season-high 18 rebounds to record his sixth double-double in seven games and 12th on the season - tied for fifth in the league. Evan Fournier poured in 27 points against Toronto and averages 16.7 - third on the team behind Vucevic and Aaron Gordon (17.1), who scored a season-high 31 in the win over the New York Knicks on Sunday. Guard Terrence Ross has cooled off the last two outings (6-of-23 from the field) after a four-game stretch in which he was 25-of-40 from the floor.
ABOUT THE NUGGETS (11-7): Millsap missed some time on the court Wednesday when he suffered a facial laceration, but the 33-year-old added five rebounds and five steals during his big night. “He’s a tough cat. I’m sure he’s going to have a nice headache in the morning,” coach Michael Malone told reporters after the game. “But he’s a pro - he came back in and wanted to get right back in the game and helped us pull out the victory.” Gary Harris leads the team in scoring with 310 points in 18 games while Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray each have 309 in the same amount.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Orlando F Jonathan Isaac is averaging 12.5 points on 9-of-16 shooting the last two games.
2. Jokic is tied for eighth in the league in double-doubles with 11 and is averaging 10.1 rebounds along with 7.1 assists.
3. The Nuggets have swept a pair of games in the last two season series, including a 125-107 victory at home last November.