The Nuggets have started 0-2 for the first time since the 2013-14 season. They are aiming to get back on track Monday, but they will face a difficult task in trying to secure their first win of the season against the James Harden-led Rockets.
“You can’t run from the truth, we’re 0-2 and we haven’t played a 48-minute game yet and that’s what it is going to take to beat the Houston Rockets tomorrow night,” Michael Malone said in his press conference Sunday. “We can’t play three quarters, we need all four quarters to be played at a high level.”
The Rockets finally got their season underway on Saturday in a overtime 128-126 loss to Portland after seeing their opener against the Thunder on Wednesday postponed. Houston was unable to dress the minimum amount of eight players due to contact tracing and positive coronavirus tests.
With Denver’s three-game homestand at Ball Arena coming to a close, it will be crucial for Malone’s team to get back on track before traveling to Sacramento to play the Kings Tuesday.
Projected starters: Jamal Murray, Gary Harris, Michael Porter Jr., Paul Millsap, Nikola Jokić
Injury Report:
OUT: JaMychal Green, left calf strain. Greg Whittington, left knee sprain.
TUNE IN: 7 p.m. MT, ALTITUDE
Here are the storylines to watch for:
Key Matchup: Gary Harris vs. James Harden
This would be a priority, even under normal circumstances.
Harden, the 2018 MVP, can seemingly score from anywhere and, as seen on Saturday against the Blazers, can almost single-handedly will teams to victory. Despite multiple defensive looks from Portland and various trade rumors, he still managed to drop 44 points in his first action of the season – shooting 12 of 22 in the process. With John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Eric Gordon and Mason Jones all sidelined due to quarantine, Harden will be shooting early and often.
“We know these are NBA players, these are good players,” Michael Porter Jr said of the Rockets being short-handed. “Any team can be beaten on any night so we’re going to go and play our hardest and play as if they had their main guys with them.”
Harris has gotten off to a slow start offensively, averaging 6.0 points on 35.7 percent shooting, but has been effective in the defensive end – his calling card. While the Nuggets’ shooting guard won't be exclusively tasked with guarding Harden, he will need to be at his best to help Denver in containing him. If he can get going on the other end, it would be a welcome boost for the Nuggets.
“Obviously, they’re going through a lot of noise in their locker room with everything they are trying to go through [and] they are dealing with COVID issues, but I don’t really care about any of that,” Malone said. “I’m worried about our team, our group and [I’m] trying to help our guys figure it out and play to the best of our abilities.”
Win the three-point battle
The Nuggets currently rank 27th in the NBA in made threes at just 9.5 makes per game. They are also 22nd in three-pointers made by opponents and 25th in opponent three-point percentage. While it is a bit early to ring the alarm bells just two games into the season, the reality is the Nuggets have to improve in all three areas if they want to win their first game of the season.
“We allow too many open threes [and] they’ve done a good job of knocking them down,” ]Porter Jr. said.
After struggling during the first seven quarters of the season in hitting threes against the Kings and Clippers, the Nuggets started to click in that area in the final 12 minutes against Los Angeles. Denver hit five of 12 shots from downtown, with Jamal Murray knocking three of those three-pointers. It will be important for the team to build on what was successful in that fourth quarter.
“We are not shooting the ball well,” Malone said. “I think on the season, we’re 28th on wide-open three-pointer percentage…So it’s not only generating them [three-point shots] but stepping up and making them.”
He added, “We definitely need to keep shooting them and hopefully we can not just shoot them but make them at a much higher percentage than we are right now.”
Defense, rebounding needs to pick up
The Nuggets are 29th in defensive rating (118.4) and are tied at 27th at rebounding at 39 boards a game. Denver will need to raise its game in both areas if it wants to secure a win Monday.
Despite losing Saturday night, Houston posted a 117.4 rating offensively (third in the NBA as of Sunday). In Denver’s first two games, it is 25th in points allowed at 122.5 per contest. Continuing those same habits would be a recipe for disaster Monday.
“We have to cut our turnovers down, we have to guard the three better and we have to get back in transition,” Malone said.