Denver Nuggets vs. New York Knicks Preview
By Evan Wheeler
The Matchup: New York Knicks (26-38) at Denver Nuggets (25-38)
Location: Pepsi Center – Denver, CO
Time: Tueday, March 8 at 7 p.m. MT
How to Watch: Altitude
Betting Line (per Bovada): Nuggets by 1.5
Projected Starting Lineups:
Denver – PG Emmanuel Mudiay, SG Gary Harris, SF JaKarr Sampson, PF Kenneth Faried, C Nikola Jokic
New York – PG Jose Calderon, SG Arron Afflalo, SF Carmelo Anthony, PF Kristaps Porzingis, C Robin Lopez
After a thrilling 116-114 overtime win over the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday, Denver will now move on to face some familiar faces when the New York Knicks come to town on Tuesday night. The Knicks are currently 26-38, sitting seven games out of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Both New York and Denver are looking to gain some momentum, after shaky play in the last five games. Both teams have gone 2-3 in that span, but are coming off of wins headed into this match-up. The Nuggets won the team’s first meeting this season back in February 101-96 in MSG. Denver controlled the game last month in a few area’s against the Knicks, primarily in transition and in the paint.
The Nuggets ran New York off the floor, outscoring them 16-3 in fast break points and 48-34 in paint points, dominating inside as well on both ends of the floor. Mainly though, Denver didn’t shoot themselves in the foot very often, committing only seven turnovers as a team. Emmanuel Mudiay was a big reason for this, not having one single turnover in the first outing against New York and dishing out nine assists in a extremely efficient outing. The Nuggets defense on both the Knicks primary offensive weapons was also a big reason for their victory at MSG. Denver held Carmelo Anthony and Kristaps Porzingis to 42 points on 42 shots. The duo combined to shoot only 40.4 percent from the field, 16.6 percent from the three-point line and had only eight free throw attempts between them. Denver will need to replicate this defensive effort, if they want to sweep the season series with New York.
Player to Watch: Carmelo Anthony
This will mark the eighth game Anthony will play against his former team, but only his third in Denver as a member of the Knicks. Melo hasn’t fared well against the Nuggets in the five years since leaving the franchise. His Knick team’s are only 3-4 against Denver and 0-2 in the Mile High City in that stretch. Anthony has averaged 25.0 points, 6.6 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game in seven games against the Nuggets, shooting 42.2 percent from the field, 26.3 percent from beyond the arc and 77.6 percent from the charity stripe. He’s struggled even more so though in the two games he’s played in Denver, averaging only 18.0 points and 6.0 rebounds per game while shooting only 32.3 percent from the field. What’s even worse for Melo is the fact that he hasn’t hit a three-point shot at the Pepsi Center as a member of the Knicks yet, going 0-8 from beyond the arc in his lone two outings. I think we might be in for a huge game from Anthony here.
This should be another back and forth battle between two pretty evenly matched teams. I’m really interested to see how the Nuggets try to defend Melo and attack him offensively without Gallinari at their disposal. I think Anthony even’s up the series here with Denver at 4-4, finally getting a win in the Mile High City as a member of the Knicks. I think Melo goes for 35 or 40, leading the Knicks to a victory at Pepsi.
Final Score Prediction: Nuggets 104, Knicks 109
