The Denver Nuggets and Utah Jazz will kick-off the 2020 NBA Playoffs tomorrow at 1:30 AM (Manila time).
The Nuggets own the head-to-head match-up this season and look poised to continue doing so, unless they continue to stagger the way they did in the seeding games.
HOME TEAM: Denver Nuggets (46-27)
The Nuggets finished the seeding games with a rough 3-5 record, where they suffered three straight defeats to close things out. Much of it may be due to rotation guys Gary Harris and Will Barton being out, as well as second-leading scorer Jamal Murray, who missed the first four contests.
Despite that, the Nuggets won’t be short in confidence as they swept the Utah Jazz in the season series, 3-0, one of which was in the bubble. Murray (27 PPG, 7 RPG, 6 APG) and Nikola Jokic (29.3 PPG, 12 RPG, 9 APG) combined for 56 points and 15 assists per game in those match-ups, so they’ll remain as the team’s 1-2 punch.
Replacing Harris and Barton’s production are Michael Porter Jr., who’s become a revelation, and Jerami Grant, who’s nicely increased his scoring. Porter Jr., in particular, has emerged as a possible future cornerstone in the Nuggets franchise. The 21-year-old averaged 22 points and 8.6 rebounds on 55.1% shooting in the bubble, and had a double-double of 23 points and 11 boards against the Jazz.
Denver scored 118.5 PPG and allowed 123.3 PPG in eight bubble games.
Check out the double overtime thriller they had last week:
ROAD TEAM: Utah Jazz (44-28)
The Jazz also went 3-5 in the seeding games, continuously failing to build off any good win. They scored 113.4 PPG and allowed 116.5 in that stretch.
Adding to the Jazz problems will be the absence of starting point guard Mike Conley, who left the bubble earlier today due to the birth of his son. Conley has tallied 18 points and five assists per game since the restart, which includes three 20-plus point games in his first four outings. He also averaged 20.5 PPG in two meetings with the Nuggets this season.
With that, Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert will have to do more scoring, especially the former. Mitchell simply has to be better shooting the ball as he’s completely being flattened by the Denver defense. He’s at 19 PPG on an atrocious 30.4% shooting in three match-ups. In last week’s meeting, though he dropped 35, he was just 12-for-33 (5-for-16 from three) from the floor, including five turnovers.
Gobert, meanwhile, will once again be in an interesting clash with Nikola Jokic. He’s scoring more than usual when he’s against the Nuggets (19.7 PPG, 12.7 RPG, 69.4 FG%), so we should probably expect more buckets from him.
Finally, there’s Utah’s sixth man, Jordan Clarkson. The first-year Jazz has provided a nice lift for the group, and he’s even the team’s leading scorer for the series at 24 PPG on 58.1% shooting. He had a season-high 37 points and 7 threes against the Nuggets last January 30th.
PREDICTIONS:
Look for another fun back-and-forth, and an aggressive Mitchell and Clarkson. They’ll have to be on right from the get-go as the Nuggets have a lot of swingman firepower.
I expect Denver to come out and have more control, though. Jokic, Murray and Porter Jr. should be enough.
The Nuggets win, 116-110.
