Spurs at Nuggets
The San Antonio Spurs seek to win for the ninth time in 11 games when they visit the Denver Nuggets on Friday to complete a home-and-home between the teams. Shooting guard DeMar DeRozan scored 30 points as the Spurs recorded a 111-103 home triumph on Wednesday.
San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich is not the least bit happy that Denver is the opponent in back-to-back contests. "I hate them. I just hate them," Popovich told reporters of back-to-backs. "I can hate them for whatever reason. You do that in the playoffs, you don't do that now." The Nuggets knocked down 18 3-pointers in Wednesday's setback but were just 17-of-50 from two-point range in the contest. "It was us turning the ball over, careless passing, missing a lot of open shots," Denver coach Michael Malone told reporters afterward. "You also have to give them credit. They've been playing at a high level on both ends of the floor."
TV: 9 p.m. ET, FS Southwest (San Antonio), Altitude (Denver)
ABOUT THE SPURS (19-16): San Antonio has scored at least 110 points in all eight wins during the 10-game stretch and has seemingly put a sluggish start in the rearview mirror. "It just shows you that we can go out there and compete with the best and why we should look at ourselves as one of the best teams in this league as well," DeRozan told reporters. "Because when we go up against the best, we perform and come out like we did (Wednesday). It's definitely a confidence builder for all of us to understand we can do this." Power forward LaMarcus Aldridge contributed 27 points against Denver and has scored 20 or more in five of the past seven contests.
ABOUT THE NUGGETS (21-11): Center Nikola Jokic was a complete nonfactor on Wednesday when he tallied just four points on 1-of-5 shooting and collected four rebounds in 31 minutes. Jokic did record 10 assists but also committed five turnovers and he routinely struggled to find his shooting spots with the Spurs intent on double-teaming him throughout the contest. "I trust Nikola," Malone told reporters after the contest. "If he thinks he's open, he's going to shoot it. If he doesn't think it's open, he's going to make a play for somebody. Nikola's been playing at a very high level. Obviously, (Wednesday) was a tough night for him."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Nuggets won both home meetings against the Spurs last season after losing six of the previous seven.
2. Denver F Juancho Hernangomez scored a career-best 27 points and collected 13 rebounds against the Spurs on Wednesday.
3. San Antonio backup PG Patty Mills is 6-for-23 shooting over the past four games.