Denver Nuggets vs. San Antonio Spurs Preview

The Matchup: Denver Nuggets (6-5) at San Antonio Spurs (8-2)

Location: AT&T Center

Time: Wednesday, November 18 at 6:30 p.m. MT

How to Watch: Altitude

Betting Line (per Bovada): Spurs by 13.5

Projected Starting Lineup:

Denver – PG Emmanuel Mudiay, SG Gary Harris, SF Danilo Gallinari, PF Kenneth Faried, C J.J. Hickson

San Antonio – PG Tony Parker, SG Danny Green, SF Kawhi Leonard, PF LaMarcus Aldridge, C Tim Duncan

Believe it or not, if the season ended today, this would be a matchup in the first round of the playoffs. But, we are less than 15 percent of the way through the season so maybe that is just ridiculous to bring up.

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Denver’s first showdown of the season tonight against San Antonio is a battle of two hot teams. The Nuggets are winners of four of their last five while the Spurs have run off five straight victories. With the Spurs winning all four contests against Denver last season, the new-look Nuggets will look to even the score a bit.

San Antonio looks poised early on for another championship run as they’ve implemented LaMarcus Aldridge into their system seamlessly. Kawhi Leonard is a major bother on both sides of the court and they have the depth to rest Parker, Ginobli and Duncan strategically throughout games.

The Nuggets continue playing inconsistently. We see a completely different team in victories than we do throughout losses, which isn’t too surprising considering the team is young and trying to make adjustments to manage injuries. But we’ll need the “good” Nuggets to show up if they want to hang with the Spurs.

The teams’ styles are quite different as the Nuggets will try and push the pace, while the Spurs hope to make it a half-court game. Whoever forces the other to switch up their play will have the advantage.

Key Matchups:

Kenneth Faried vs. LaMarcus Aldridge

With Aldridge being an assassin from mid-range, the Manimal has his work cut out for him stretching his defense to 15-20 feet. This may affect his rebounding numbers, but his game should be graded on how LA shoots from outside.

Look for Faried to take advantage of offensive rebounds as he has the athletic advantage and should be able to out-hustle the San Antonio big man.

Denver PGs vs. Spurs PGs

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Of all the players on the floor, this is where the Nuggets should have an advantage. Tony Parker has not been the same player we are used to and Patty Mills is getting plenty of run as the backup.

Mudiay should use his quickness to be a playmaker on offense, looking for his shot early. It would obviously be a huge help if he gets his long-range ball going a bit, but if it isn’t falling, expect to see penetration forcing help defense to crash and opening up space for Gallinari and Faried to do some damage.

Jameer Nelson needs to keep Mills off the three-point line and look to create for himself on offense. With the Spurs’ defense as good as it is, he could be a huge X-factor in the game.

Playing a Gregg Popovich-coached team is a great experience for this Nuggets team, but they will have a hard time getting a win on the road on the latter end of a back-to-back. I am looking for some fight in this team and a full 48 minutes of goo effort. Regardless of outcome, it would be nice to see Denver’s solid play continue against one of the elite teams in the league.

Next: Nuggets Early Takeaways, Rest-of-Season Predictions

Prediction: Spurs 102, Nuggets 94