The Denver Nuggets have won two straight after hitting a rough patch. They’ll be looking to make it three straight against Indiana. Here are 3 things to watch.
Last time out, Nikola Jokic saved the day for the Denver Nuggets.
Trailing by one with less than five seconds left, Jokic hit the floater/turnaround/whatever you want to call it to hand Dallas the loss — and erase what would have been a game-winning dunk by Luka Doncic.
https://twitter.com/nuggets/status/1106419307079041024?s=21
It was Jokic’s fourth game winner of the season — joining go-ahead buckets against the Heat, Grizzlies and Kings — and gave the Nuggets their 45th win of the season.
Denver now sits just one game behind top-seeded Golden State with 15 games to play. They still hold a comfortable three game lead over Houston for the No. 2 seed.
Now, on to a Pacers team that has continued to impress despite the abscense of Victor Oladipo — who went down with a ruptured quad tendon in his right knee Jan. 23.
Since then, the Pacers have figured out their rotation. The Nuggets, on the other hand, still have some questions.
Speaking of which…
Will Isaiah Thomas get back into the rotation?
Against the Mavericks, IT failed to get on the court for the first time since returning from injury just before the All-Star break — coincidentally in the game in which Jokic scored game winner No. 3.
In his first game back, Thomas scored 8 points and dished out two assists. Just after the break, Thomas erupted for 16 points in 16 minutes against the Mavericks. Across those two, Thomas shot over 47 percent from the field and 50 percent from behind the 3-point line
Since then, it hasn’t been so pretty. Thomas has shot just 34.5 percent from the field and an abysmal 14.3 percent from behind the arc, despite leading the Nuggets in usage rate at 30.1 percent
The second unit looked a lot better without Thomas, so he may see a few more DNP’s down the stretch.
But don’t count him out yet. He may be a few years removed from his playoff heroics in Boston but he’s still the same player.
Will the Pacers continue to impress?
When Victor Oladipo went down, most — myself included — expected this Indiana team to fade away. They were all but guaranteed to make the playoffs in a weak Eastern Conference, but they were supposed to slide down to the bottom half.
They have stayed above .500 at 12-10, including wins over the Thunder, Clippers and Heat. They have also held the 76ers at bay — sitting in a tie for third place with Philadelphia.
Bojan Bogdanovich has led the way on the offensive end — averaging 21.8 points per game since Oladipo went down — and everybody has picked up the slack on the defensive end.
Myles Turner has been especially impressive as a rim protector, leading the league with 2.8 blocks per game.
Domantas Sabonis has stepped it up this season as the first man off the bench, scoring 14.3 points and pulling down 9.2 rebounds.
Can the Nuggets finish out a big bounce back week?
Coming into this week, the Nuggets had lost four of five games — including a loss to a Anthony Davis-less Pelicans team.
But since, Denver has won back-to-back games against Minnesota and Dallas at Pepsi Center. And The Pacers give the Nuggets the opportunity to go 3 for 3 at home — a nice bounce back in its own right after the Nuggets lost their last two in the Mile High City.
The win would also give Denver a chance to tie the Warriors for the top seed, as the Warriors head to Oklahoma City to face a struggling Thunder team.
Three wins would be big before heading out east for a four-game road trip.