Chicago – After nearly three weeks, the 2018 preseason comes to an end tonight in Chicago for the Denver Nuggets. Their opponent tonight, the Chicago Bulls, comes into tonight’s game fresh off a win on Wednesday night over the Indiana Pacers. Each team will be playing their fifth and final preseason game before heading into the regular season next week.
Here are some things to watch for in tonight’s game:
Extended minutes for the starters: Nuggets Coach Michael Malone said before Tuesday’s game in Los Angeles that he expected to play his starters 30 or more minutes in one of the final two preseason games. With the starters playing just one quarter against the Clippers tonight figures to be the night the starting group plays into the fourth quarter.
“I thought for one quarter against the Clippers they were great and now the challenge is tonight let’s do it for a lot more than one quarter,” Malone said.
The athleticism of the Bulls backcourt: The Bulls have a pair of young guards in Zach Lavine and Kris Dunn that pose an intriguing matchup for the Nuggets. Both players can get to the paint with their athleticism and have the length to disrupt passing lanes on the defensive end.
Communication on defense: The Nuggets have stressed the importance of communication throughout the preseason and Malone sees tonight as another opportunity to improve upon that.
“We have a quiet team by nature and so we’re trying to find as many creative ways as we can to force them to talk, to force them to communicate,” Malone said.
Tonight’s game tips off at 6 pm MT and will be broadcast on Altitude Radio, 92.5 FM.