In a very short day of NBA games on Saturday, where a total of four games will be played,
Denver Nuggets and
Atlanta Hawks will close the day facing each other. With Trae Young's injury, the stars of the game will be
Nikola Jokic and
Dejounte Murray.
The Hawks (10th at 36-41) will be the visitors, having lost the 9th place in the Eastern Conference. The Georgia franchise is automatically in the play-in, but their goal is that in the 9th-10th playoff matchup they can be the home team. Chicago Bulls is their only rival in that matchup, as the Illinois franchise is the one that has overtaken them in the standings with a 37-40 record.
The Nuggets, meanwhile, must win to move back into sole possession of first place in the Western Conference. Right now, Minnesota Timberwolves is the leader with a 53-24 record, although Denver has the same balance in 2nd place. Behind, Oklahoma City Thunder is still in the fight, 3rd with 52-25, despite having lost their last three games.
Expert predictions (Possible lineups and result).
The main predictions for tonight's game place Denver Nuggets as the favorite to win. The Colorado franchise should not lose at home against a clearly inferior opponent. However, the Atlanta Hawks have already proven against the Boston Celtics twice this season that they can take down the NBA's best.
In addition, the potential lineups will be as follows:
- Nuggets: Reggie Jackson, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Michael Porter Jr., Aaron Gordon, Nikola Jokic.
- Hawks: Dejounte Murray, Bogdan Bogdanovic, De'Andre Hunter, Jalen Johnson, Clint Capela.
Schedule and TV.
The game will be played at 9:00 PM ET, and can be followed on ALT and BSSE.
Injury report.
- Nuggets: Nikola Jokic (hip) and Aaron Gordon (foot), probable. Jamal Murray (knee), questionable. Vlatko Cancar (knee), out.
- Hawks: Trae Young (finger), Onyeka Okongwu (finger) and AJ Griffin (ankle), ruled out. Mouhamed Gueye (knee), questionable. Saddiq Bey (knee), out for the season.