Pacers at Nuggets
The Indiana Pacers have dropped eight straight games in Denver and look to end the slide when they visit the Nuggets on Saturday. Indiana hasn't won in the Mile High City since posting a 112-110 victory on Nov. 27, 2007 and also lost six of the past eight overall matchups.
The Nuggets are just one just game behind the first-place Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference but a four-game Eastern swing awaits following the game against the Pacers. Denver escaped with a 100-99 home victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday when All-Star center Nikola Jokic drained the winning hook shot as time expired. Indiana also went down to the finish during a 108-106 home win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday as shooting guard Wesley Matthews scored on a putback with 1.8 seconds left. "Man, this team fights. That's one of the big reasons why I chose to come here," Matthews told reporters afterward. "We fight, we compete. No lead is too much. We needed a win against a playoff team, and that's what we've got to do going forward."
TV: 9 p.m. ET, FS Indiana, Altitude (Denver)
ABOUT THE PACERS (44-25): Backup power forward Domantas Sabonis was a force against the Thunder and produced 26 points, including a solid 12-of-13 from the free-throw line. "He had a mismatch while Myles (Turner) was spreading the floor," point guard Darren Collison told reporters about the reliance on Sabonis. "We were just happy to give him the ball. It just seemed like that was our one way to break that defense." Coach Nate McMillan was preparing to insert Thaddeus Young for Sabonis late in the game and the veteran forward declined, telling McMillan to stick with the hot hand.
ABOUT THE NUGGETS (45-22): Veteran power forward Paul Millsap scored a season-best 33 points against the Mavericks and is averaging 28 on 22-of-31 shooting over the past two games. "Paul's been really good as of late. He was by far our best player in the first half,” Denver coach Michael Malone told reporters while referring to Millsap's 20-point opening half against Dallas. “With 33 points, rebounding, defending, I thought Paul had a great impact on both ends of the floor." Jokic had just 11 points but the game-winning shot promoted Millsap to say, "he's been doing it for us all year. He's got my vote for MVP, for sure."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Nuggets' home winning streak over the Pacers sits at nine, counting a 140-112 in London on Jan. 12, 2017 when Denver was designated as the host team.
2. Indiana SF Bojan Bogdanovic scored 23 points against Oklahoma City and recorded 20 or more in 14 of the past 19 games.
3. Denver F Torrey Craig (arm) will likely miss his second straight game.