This year’s Denver Nuggets is what fans have been patiently waiting for the past couple seasons, a healthy team with the ability to score from just about anywhere on the court. The only issue with this year’s team has been the two-time MVP Nikola Jokic, who has had several scoring slumps this season.
The most recent game against the Chicago Bulls in Chicago on Sunday, Jokic was only able to muster an 8-point game; however, Michael Porter Jr. picked up the slack by scoring 31 and with Jamal Murray’s help, the Nuggets defeated the Bulls 126-103.
Last Monday against the Spurs Jokic nearly added another triple double to his resume but fell short by two rebounds in Denver’s win over San Antonio.
The Nuggets are home this Wednesday to face a strug- gling New York Knicks team who lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday 145-135. Last Wednesday, the Brooklyn Nets blew the Knicks out 112-85 before getting a win on Friday over the Detroit Pistons (121-112).
The Nuggets will travel to Dallas this Friday and Sunday for back-to-back games with the Mavericks before returning home next Tuesday to host the Pistons.
The Nuggets are now ranked fourth behind the Portland Trailblazers, the Milwaukee Bucks, and the Boston Celtics in the NBA Power Rankings.
In other sports the Colorado Avalanche lost a heart- breaker at home on Monday night at Ball Arena against the St. Louis Blues. The Avs are in third place in the Central Division behind the Dallas Stars and the Winnipeg Jets after their loss to the Blues.
The Avs were riding a four game winning streak before Monday night’s loss. This week the Avs are in the Carolinas to face the Hurricanes (Canes) before returning home to host the Washington Capitals on Saturday. The Avs previ- ously beat the Canes on Saturday 4-1.
The Denver Broncos season is as good as gone at this point, after losing to the Tennessee Titans on Sunday in Tennessee. Despite the Broncos dismal 3-6 record they still remain one game up on the basement-dwelling Las Vegas Raiders. The Broncos were able to put up 10 points before the half but allowed the Titans to score a touchdown before the half.
In the second half the Broncos offense was all but non-existent with continued problems on third down. The Broncos were 4-17 on third down and allowed 6 sacks on Sunday. Penalties still seem to be an issue for Denver but they managed to keep them under their game average, which isn’t saying a whole lot.
This week is Raiders week for the Broncos and both teams will be playing to keep themselves out of the AFC West basement. The Raiders have the advantage with a win over the Broncos earlier this season. A Raiders win will defini- tively put the Broncos in last place, and spot the Broncos ownership likely didn’t have expectations for this season.
