The Nuggets in Abu Dhabi: How the first preseason game went

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DENVER (KDVR) — The Denver Nuggets started their preseason on Friday as Colorado’s local former champs took on the reigning champs, the Boston Celtics.

The Nuggets were presented with the unique opportunity to travel to the United Arab Emirates where they played in the Etihad Arena in the nation’s capital city, Abu Dhabi. They also had the honor to not only kick off their preseason but to be the first preseason game for the entirety of the NBA. Steve Harvey and soccer legends, Thierry Henry and Ronaldinho were in the stands for the affair.

Prior to the game, the Nuggets looked to be having fun exploring the city and culture in the Middle East. When game time came knocking, they locked in and gave their best performance for the international fans.

Final results

The Nuggets weren’t able to take home the win in the tightly contested game and fell to the Celtics, 107-103. Celtics’ guard, Peyton Pritchard caught fire from deep and led all scorers with 21 points, trailblazing in the win for the Celtics.

Things to look out for

While it is always nice to win, it is not always the priority in the preseason. The preseason is often used to get the players warmed up and used to being back on the court in a competitive situation and for the coaches to analyze and pin down their final roster and rotation for the upcoming season.

A few departures and additions have this Nuggets’ roster looking a bit different than the one that ended up being knocked out in the Western Conference Semifinals by the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The starting five

As it stands, most of the starting five from last season will retain their places. Three-time NBA MVP, Nikola Jokic, will hold down the five, casually slinging dimes to his teammates and making the extraordinary look ordinary. Aaron Gordon will start at power forward, locking up opponents and likely catching a few bodies along the way. Sharpshooter Michael Porter Jr. will showcase that perfect form jumper at small forward and Jamal Murray will start at the point while trying to continue to perfect his lethal two-man game with Jokic and drop another 50 ball.

One noticeable omission from this list is the shooting guard spot. For the past couple of years, the spot was held down by two-time NBA champion, Kentavious Caldwell Pope. After helping the Nuggets secure their first championship, KCP sought a change of scenery and signed with the Orlando Magic in free agency.

With such a key player departing, coach Michael Malone had some choices to make.

The two front-runners for the position were already in the Nuggets ranks with Christian Braun and Julian Strawther being considered at the two.

Braun got the nod in the starting five on Friday against the Celtics and put up five points, three assists and five rebounds in 13 minutes for the Nuggets. Meanwhile, Strawther also had a strong game off the bench and ended up playing the most minutes, 23, for the Nuggets on the night. He put up a stat line of 11 points, two assists and two rebounds.

Another possibility that has been discussed before the regular season, is putting newly acquired Russell Westbrook at point guard and sliding Murray to the shooting guard spot.

Russell Westbrook

Speaking of Russell Westbrook, many eyes were on the former MVP as he made his debut for the Nuggets. Adding such a renowned player to a championship core has rival fans and teams on high alert.

Westbrook, affectionately known as “Russ,” was his usual self in the game, bringing high energy and a filled-up stat line. He finished the game with 12 points, eight assists and four rebounds in 19 minutes. This may be the first time in their careers that Russ and Jokic don’t finish with the most triple-doubles on their team.

Coach Malone will have to deal with the challenge of figuring out the best way to deploy Westbrook with the team but that seems like a pretty good problem to have.

A few more tidbits

In the limited minutes of the preseason, it is always difficult to be too critical or excited about a player’s performance.

The starting five looked solid in their short time on the court. Jokic led them with 14 points on the night.

Coming off the bench Zeke Nnaji had a good game with 10 points and 6 rebounds in 12 minutes. Another exciting new signing, Dario Šarić, had a promising debut with five points, one assist and three rebounds in 14 minutes.

It definitely looked like the players needed a few moments throughout the game to shake the rust off from the off-season but that is to be expected from the first game of the preseason.

The team shot 43 percent from the field, 37 percent from three and 65 percent from the free throw line. They dominated the paint, outrebounding and outscoring the Celtics in that area. The team also played selflessly dishing out 29 assists among them but also turned the ball over 23 times.

A bit of drama

While enjoying some fun in Abu Dhabi several Nuggets players were riding camels when a media staff member with the team asked Jokic if he had been on a camel before. Being a known horse enthusiast, one would assume he has spent a decent amount of time mounted on the back of a quadrupedal animal but to the surprise of many, Jokic revealed he has never even been on the back of a horse. In his defense, very few people seven feet tall seem like they would be able to fit on a horse.

The Nuggets will certainly have some things to iron out before the bright lights shine on their regular season opener but with a majority of their championship core still intact, coach Malone at the helm and some exciting new additions to the team, they look like they are in a good position to make some noise in the league and go on another run for a ring.

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Spencer Kristensen

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