Preview: San Antonio Spurs vs. Denver Nuggets – Game #66
Zach Collins and the Spurs take on Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets (Photo via Twitter)
The San Antonio Spurs host the Denver Nuggets in the AT&T Center on Friday night. The Spurs enter the contest with a record of 16-49, which has them in second to last place in the Western Conference. Meanwhile, at 46-20, the Nuggets have the No. 1 seed in the West.
Denver is led by Nikola Jokic, the Serbian center who is attempting to win his third straight Most Valuable Player award. On the season, Jokic is averaging 24.3 points, 11.8 rebounds and 10.0 assists in 33.7 minutes per game.
San Antonio is coming off of two consecutive losses to the Houston Rockets, the only team in the West with a worse record than the Spurs. This game against the Nuggets kicks off a six-game homestand for the Silver and Black. The Spurs are 10-22 at home this season and 6-27 on the road.
San Antonio Spurs Injury Update
For the first time in a long while, the injury report for the Spurs is rather short. The only player who is out is Khem Birch, the center who was acquired in the Jakob Poeltl trade who will likely miss the rest of the season due to a knee issue.
Three players are probable for San Antonio: Jeremy Sochan, Doug McDermott and Romeo Langford.
San Antonio Spurs Starting Lineup
We know that head coach Gregg Popovich will start Zach Collins at center and Keldon Johnson at forward. It’s also highly likely that he will start Tre Jones and Devin Vassell at guard. If Jeremy Sochan is able to play, he’ll be the other starting forward. If Sochan sits out tonight, expect Keita Bates-Diop to start in his place.
Blake Wesley Assigned to the Austin Spurs
Now that the roster is back to nearly full strength, Blake Wesley appears to be the odd man out. The rookie has been assigned to the Austin Spurs of the G League. In Austin, Wesley should get heavy minutes — and that should continue to aid his development.
At guard, the Spurs now have Tre Jones, Devin Vassell, Malaki Branham and Devonte’ Graham who are all likely to all get rotation minutes. Instead of being the fifth guard in San Antonio, the Spurs decided Wesley will be the main guard in Austin.
Betting Guide: Spurs vs. Nuggets
The Nuggets are favored by 13 points and the over/under is 236 points. The smart money tonight is for the Nuggets to win by 14 or more points. Denver is coming off of a disappointing loss to the Chicago Bulls in which Nikola Jokic struggled. The MVP candidate will be on a mission to bounce back in a big way tonight. Spurs centers Zach Collins and Charles Bassey will have their hands full, to put it mildly.
While the Spurs are healthy, it’ll likely take them some time to get back on the same page. San Antonio will likely come out with a lot of energy due to having four days of rest since they last played but Denver’s experience and cohesion will end up being too much to handle come the fourth quarter.