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Tag: ball arena

  • Nuggets might watch Lakers vs. Pelicans together, but “we don’t have a preferred opponent”

    Nuggets might watch Lakers vs. Pelicans together, but “we don’t have a preferred opponent”

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    MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The tarp is being removed from the pool for the first time this year at the Jokic household.

    “We have good weather,” Nikola Jokic said Sunday afternoon in Memphis, his mind already back in Denver enough to know the local forecast. “So I’m going to go in my swimming pool. … Probably get some treatment. Relax a little bit.”

    The Nuggets have five nights off before they play again, in Game 1 of the Western Conference playoffs Saturday at Ball Arena. They have two full days before they’ll know their first-round opponent — either the Los Angeles Lakers or New Orleans Pelicans.

    They intend to enjoy the brief moment of stillness while they can. Because they hope to enjoy what happens next even more.

    “I think we all kind of were tired of the regular season,” Michael Porter Jr. said.

    Common side-effect of winning a championship. The first 82 games suddenly don’t feel as important. The playoffs can’t arrive soon enough. Champions become adrenaline junkies, living for the pressure and excitement. After a rollicking win over the Timberwolves last Wednesday, Nuggets players sat in the locker room and fantasized about the crowd noise of a playoff environment, the extra oomph of player introductions. Ball Arena had just given them an early taste of it.

    Maybe that’s why they fell apart two nights later in San Antonio. Second-half blowout. Lottery team. Lethargic crowd. Minds in the future. The Nuggets lost focus, lost a 23-point lead and lost their stranglehold on the No. 1 seed in the West.

    The regular-season finale in Memphis was an opportunity seized to salvage something out of their slip to third place in the standings. Minnesota’s loss to Phoenix handed the No. 2 seed back to Denver (57-25), an extra series with that coveted home-court advantage and a different path through the playoffs. Lemons to lemonade.

    “In the second round, we’ll get another round of home-court, and then the only way we wouldn’t get the Western Conference Finals home-court is if OKC makes it all the way,” Porter said. “Which they very well could. So definitely some benefits to being the second seed.”

    “We’ll see in a couple months how it played out for us,” Reggie Jackson said. “Still a tough loss in San Antonio, just because we completely controlled our own destiny. But we still control our destiny. It’s just about playing our best ball at the right time.”

    First, a few days to breathe. The afternoon game time Sunday allowed the Nuggets to fly home from Memphis immediately after the game and have most of the evening to relax. Monday is also a “black-out day,” with nobody going to the team facility or working.

    “Let everybody stay home, get some rest, be with your families, whatever it is you need to do,” coach Michael Malone said. “And then obviously on Tuesday, maybe have a light player development type of a day. And may get together as a team to watch that game on Tuesday night.”

    That’s the burning question now. Who would the Nuggets rather play in the first round? The seventh-seeded Pelicans, a roster that might end up without an All-NBA selection and a core with minimal playoff experience? Or the eighth-seeded Lakers, a franchise that strikes fear into everybody but a current iteration that has lost eight consecutive games to Denver? It’s a fresh matchup or a grudge match.

    “I think it’s pretty even throughout,” Porter said. “New Orleans presents a lot of challenges. Especially with (Brandon Ingram) being back. But the Lakers are a very good team as well. We may have swept them last year (in the Western Conference), but it was a battle every game. I think they ran every game, and then it came down to the last two or three minutes where we kind of pulled away. So it may have looked like we dominated, but that was a very good matchup last year, so we’re taking everyone serious.”

    Porter, despite Denver’s scoreboard-watching Sunday, wanted to be clear: “We don’t have a preferred opponent.”

    Meanwhile, Malone wasn’t focused on the “who” so much as the “when.”

    “You find out a lot sooner than you did as a 1-seed,” he said. “So that helps.”

    Indeed, the Nuggets will have more time to scout one specific opponent than they did last year as the top seed, which doesn’t find out its adversary until Friday at the conclusion of the Play-In Tournament. The real work starts Wednesday for Denver. Even that rumored gathering for the Lakers-Pelicans game Tuesday night would be more of a social event than a work function.

    “We’ll probably get together and watch it and just try to relax at the same time,” Jackson said. “Try to do a little bit of scouting, but just trying to do a little bit of hanging out. Build some comradery and just relax a little bit.”

    The situation in New Orleans will be intriguing. The Lakers were already there Sunday for Game 82. Their 124-108 rout vaulted them to the No. 8 position and knocked the Pelicans from No. 6 to No. 7 … all for the two teams to play again in the same arena 48 hours later. The Lakers don’t even have to fly home to Los Angeles and back.

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    Bennett Durando

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  • Christian Braun posterizes Rudy Gobert with left hand to punctuate Nuggets’ last home game before playoffs: “My best sequence in the NBA”

    Christian Braun posterizes Rudy Gobert with left hand to punctuate Nuggets’ last home game before playoffs: “My best sequence in the NBA”

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    Christian Braun didn’t have time immediately to examine every single notification on his phone, but he did notice a text from his mom before he spoke to reporters.

    What did she say?

    “Lord knows,” Braun said solemnly. “I probably can’t say it in here.”

    Reactions were pouring in after his left-handed dunk over three-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert on Wednesday night. The poster gave the Nuggets (56-24) a 12-point lead with 3:21 remaining in an eventual 116-107 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. It upset the previously established order of the Western Conference standings with two games to go. It punctuated a 33-8 season at Ball Arena for the defending champions.

    Next time they play in this building, it’ll be Game 1 of a first-round playoff series (perhaps as the No. 1 seed, if they can hold serve this weekend). The players thanked their 41st sellout crowd in as many games by sticking around to throw souvenir basketballs into the stands. Nobody wanted to leave.

    “We’re on a high right now,” coach Michael Malone said, directing attention toward the two games Denver still needs to win to clinch home-court advantage in the Western Conference playoffs.

    Braun’s showstopper was a tribute to cathartic memories at Ball Arena — the crowd explosions that frequently defined Denver’s 16-4 run to the 2023 title — and a preview of more to come. He was pushing the tempo after a Minnesota miss, driving toward Gobert in transition from the left wing. Peyton Watson, his 2022 draft-mate, was slashing backside toward the rim. Gobert slid back to deny a lob to Watson, seemingly giving Braun a path toward the layup. Then the Minnesota center left his feet, trying to spring back at Braun.

    “I was just telling somebody in the locker room, a lot of the credit goes to P-Wat too, because I think Rudy knew that P-Wat is a high flyer running behind him,” Braun said. “So he was stunting, falling, trying to play both. Which is what you’re supposed to do, obviously, in transition. He was just caught between two guys that attack the rim pretty hard. … Most of the time, he gets those blocks.”

    Before Gobert could meet him at the rim, Braun partially switched the ball to his left hand in mid-air and navigated around the attempted block.

    “Everybody on the team knows I like to dunk with my left land,” he said. “I don’t usually try it in the fourth quarter of a big game like that, but I didn’t want to go up with a layup against the best defensive player in the league. You’ve gotta attack him strong. I don’t know. I didn’t really plan it.”

    Christian Braun (0) of the Denver Nuggets dunks on Rudy Gobert (27) of the Minnesota Timberwolves during the fourth quarter of the Nuggets’ 116-107 win at Ball Arena in Denver on Wednesday, April 10, 2024. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)

    Braun flexed. The entire bench flailed with delight. Play continued. Anthony Edwards missed a quick chance at the other end — part of a scoreless fourth quarter for him — and Michael Porter Jr. carried the rebound through traffic. There was Braun at the backdoor, cutting for a lob.

    Two dunks in 21 seconds for the Nuggets’ sixth man, and it was game over.

    “Probably my best sequence in the NBA yet,” Braun said.

    Same goes for the dunk.

    “Some of the dunks that were being performed and finished and completed — Christian Braun’s left-handed dunk, I’ll be honest, there were a few where I was telling them, ‘Hey, slow up, slow up, let’s work the clock,’” Malone said. “It was a dunk show for a bit.”

    After Braun’s consecutive slams, Watson got in on the action by swatting a jumper for his career-high sixth block of the game then chasing down Jamal Murray’s long outlet pass for a fast-break hammer. Braun, trailing the play, jumped with Watson out of sheer excitement.

    That either of them would be on the floor late in the fourth quarter to begin with was a testament to the playoff blueprint both had followed to near-perfection throughout the game. Watson’s blocks spoke for themselves. Braun’s defense was equally valuable as he challenged ball-handlers at the point of attack, contained Edwards several times and even made life difficult for Naz Reid on a post-up. Edwards had gotten Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in foul trouble during the third quarter, leaving the bench players to fend and defend for themselves.

    Even with just two combined points through three quarters, Braun and Watson earned their place in the closing lineup.

    “(Malone) could have subbed us out for the guys that normally finish the game, but he trusted me and (Watson), trusted our defense, trusted us to get it done,” Braun said. “Those plays don’t happen if we come out earlier, if we check out at our usual time.”

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    Bennett Durando

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  • Before Nuggets’ high-stakes clash with Timberwolves, Michael Malone and Nikola Jokic must exorcise Utah demons: “We don’t really acclimate to the altitude very well”

    Before Nuggets’ high-stakes clash with Timberwolves, Michael Malone and Nikola Jokic must exorcise Utah demons: “We don’t really acclimate to the altitude very well”

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    It’s clear which of the Nuggets’ four remaining games is the most consequential, but what precedes it might be the dictionary definition of a trap game.

    There’s even a precedent. Ninth-year coach Michael Malone had that on his mind as he arrived at Ball Arena for practice Monday morning, causing him to ask special assistant to the head coach Andrew Munson for evidence.

    “I knew that we had struggled in Salt Lake City,” Malone said. He didn’t realize just how bad his coaching record was, though.

    Munson informed him that Denver has lost six consecutive road games against the Utah Jazz entering their matchup Tuesday. Sounded about right to Malone. “But…” Munson continued, catching Malone off guard — “I’m like oh, there’s a ‘but’ to this?” — the Nuggets are also 1-14 in Salt Lake during Malone’s tenure.

    Bulletin board material: obtained.

    Denver’s excursion to face Utah (29-49) is the forgettable first half of a critical back-to-back that will help shape the final seeding of the Western Conference playoffs. The second half is back home against Minnesota in a showdown that could finally determine the No. 1 seed once and for all. With four games to go and the entire league idle Monday, the Nuggets (54-24) know this much: They will automatically clinch that top seed if they win out. But if they lose to the Timberwolves, with whom they’re currently tied, they’ll all but forfeit the race. Minnesota would have to lose two of its other three remaining games, while Denver would have to win all three. And Oklahoma City would have to lose at least one more.

    Needless to say, human nature might be to disregard that irksome round-trip flight to Utah, where a lottery team awaits.

    “My most important message to our group today was, everybody’s talking about Wednesday night; I don’t care about Wednesday night,” Malone said. “Because if we don’t handle our business tomorrow night, that takes away from the importance of Wednesday.”

    So Malone quizzed likely MVP winner Nikola Jokic about the number of games they’ve won together at Delta Center. The Nuggets center guessed three. “I wish it was three,” Malone responded.

    He had one-on-one discussions with a number of Denver’s players Monday, making sure everyone was on the same page entering the last week of the regular season. As of about noon, Malone believed the entire roster would be making the trip, “and hopefully they’re all available to play tomorrow night.” That includes Jamal Murray, who returned Saturday after a seven-game absence, and Aaron Gordon, who missed the last win with a foot injury.

    Despite various bumps and bruises, the Nuggets are feeling good overall about their collective physical state with the playoffs looming.

    It’s their mental state that has Malone worried. And the apparently cursed state that is Utah.

    “I think it’s jet lag,” he deadpanned. “That’s a really long flight. And we don’t really acclimate to the altitude very well.”

    KCP’s off day

    One of those bumps is the swollen and distorted-looking right pinky finger of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who dislocated it during a game in February. Since then, he’s been deciding during his pregame shooting routine whether he wants to tape up the finger or leave it alone that night.

    Whatever he’s doing is working — he’s shooting 47.6% from 3-point range in 22 games since the All-Star break — but he says the injury “won’t heal up until the summertime.”

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    Bennett Durando

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  • Nathan MacKinnon, Valeri Nichushkin set new career highs as Avalanche blasts Blue Jackets

    Nathan MacKinnon, Valeri Nichushkin set new career highs as Avalanche blasts Blue Jackets

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    The only drama left in the final period Friday night at Ball Arena was whether Nathan MacKinnon could continue his pursuit of NHL history and extend his home scoring streak to 33 games.

    MacKinnon took care of it with 13:59 to spare, then added another on a surgical power-play goal barely more than a minute later to help the Colorado Avalanche crush the Columbus Blue Jackets, 6-1. It was Colorado’s eighth straight victory, and moved the Avalanche to the top of the Central Division with 95 points.

    “The streak is a result of all the hard work and dedication that he brings to the game on a nightly basis,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “There’s not a guy on that bench that didn’t know he hadn’t had a point yet, and when he got it everyone was pretty happy. You can see he wants it. He was a little ornery on the bench when he hadn’t got a point yet. That’s the pressure he puts on himself.”

    Cale Makar casually broke up a 2-on-2 rush for the Blue Jackets and set MacKinnon loose on a breakaway. MacKinnon had seven shots on goal before this, but didn’t miss with No. 8 and set a new career high with 43 goals in a season. Toss in the primary assist on Mikko Rantanen’s second goal of the night 73 seconds later, and MacKinnon has 119 points, one shy of Joe Sakic’s Denver-based record.

    The overall franchise record, 139 for Peter Stastny in 1981-82, remains very much in play. MacKinnon’s home scoring streak is now tied with one Wayne Gretzky run for the second-longest in league history. He’s chasing Gretzky’s 1988-89 season, when he had a point in all 40 home games.

    Makar had Colorado’s first goal after a nifty rush sequence. Jonathan Drouin gained the offensive zone and left a drop pass for Artturi Lehkonen. He immediately found Makar in some open space near the right circle for his 18th goal of the season. That ties Nashville’s Roman Josi for the league lead among defensemen and left him three points shy of Quinn Hughes for tops in that category.

    Jared Bednar reunited Ross Colton and Miles Wood on the team’s third line along with Zach Parise, and that trio created the second goal. Parise pulled up along the right wing, saw his linemates both loitering near the net and sent the puck in that direction. Both guys were there hunting for the rebound, and Colton shoveled it across the line for his 15th of the season.

    “I feel like they should be playing together,” Bednar said. “They get along off the ice. We’ve seen them play some great stretches of games. … I know that they have it in them. They just had to work through some issues. Great conscious on the defensive side tonight, physical, went to the net hard, drew penalties, banged in a rebound goal. I liked that line a lot tonight.”

    Bednar did some in-game tinkering as well, flipping MacKinnon and Casey Mittelstadt’s on the top two lines. Rantanen scored on Mittelstadt’s first shift with him and Valeri Nichushkin, deflecting a point shot from Josh Manson past Columbus goaltender Elvis Merzlikins.

    Colorado Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar (8) handles the puck against Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Jake Bean (22) in the first period at Ball Arena in Denver on Friday, March 22, 2024. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)

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    Corey Masisak

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  • Nikola Jokic triple-double, Michael Porter Jr. 31-point game lead Nuggets to win over Knicks

    Nikola Jokic triple-double, Michael Porter Jr. 31-point game lead Nuggets to win over Knicks

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    After a successful week on the road, the defending NBA champions treated Ball Arena to a quintessential Denver Nuggets game.

    Michael Porter Jr. continued his hot streak with 31 points on 13-of-16 shooting, and Nikola Jokic amassed 30 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists in a 113-100 win over the New York Knicks on Thursday night.

    Jamal Murray added 23 points before going to the locker room early with an apparent leg injury in the last minute of regulation, as Denver (49-21) was pulling away for its 13th win in 15 games since the All-Star break.

    “Just turned his ankle a little bit,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said, not seeming too concerned despite the prolonged amount of time Murray took to get up after an awkward landing.

    The Nuggets and Thunder are tied atop the Western Conference standings, though Oklahoma City possesses the edge in win percentage as well as the head-to-head tiebreaker.

    Porter is averaging 21 points per game since the break.

    When they visited Madison Square Garden at the end of a five-game January road trip, the Nuggets sleep-walked through their worst assist-to-turnover game (20 to 19) of the season. New York’s formidable defense stood tall, with OG Anunoby snatching six steals.

    “When you get your (butt) kicked,” Malone said pregame Thursday, “they have our full attention.”

    Except this time, the Knicks were wrapping up a four-game Western Conference trip, and Anunoby (among other key players) was out with an injury.

    Denver’s extraordinary starting five feasted. Jokic was one rebound shy of his 22nd triple-double of the season by halftime. Porter had a 6-for-6 shooting half, reminiscent of his recent perfect game in Los Angeles. Murray combined unlikely off-hand finishing with adventurous play-making. Aaron Gordon spun around defenders for a transition dunk. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope minimized Jalen Brunson as much as possible, keeping his 26 points to 23 shot attempts.

    “I just really, sincerely hope that the national media and everybody else following this great league really takes into account the great job he does every night,” Malone said. “We see it. I see it every day. … But he is an incredible defensive player You don’t stop a guy like Jalen Brunson. He had two 40-point games on this road trip. But I thought he made him work for everything tonight.”

    In a particularly breathtaking third-quarter sequence, Gordon initiated a set from the left wing by passing to Jokic, who was stepping up toward the top of the key. He thrives when he can operate from the middle of the floor with his back to the basket. From the right wing, Porter motioned to his right to push his defender (Donte DiVincenzo) back a step, to the same level as Jokic — basically creating a screen for himself. Porter slid back to the left, received a dribble handoff as DiVincenzo went underneath Jokic, and shot-faked as DiVincenzo left his feet to contest. Gordon’s man, Josh Hart, was stuck in no man’s land as Gordon slipped to the basket. Porter passed to him, and Gordon kicked to Caldwell-Pope in the corner as Brunson collapsed. Two extra passes, three points.

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    Bennett Durando

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  • Avalanche believes Casey Mittelstadt can unlock even more after recent breakout

    Avalanche believes Casey Mittelstadt can unlock even more after recent breakout

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    If Casey Mittelstadt scores a huge goal or sets one up with a beautiful pass for the Colorado Avalanche this spring, there is one member of the organization who will probably feel an extra twinge of pride.

    Mittelstadt’s career hit an unexpected low point in 2019-20, when the Buffalo Sabres sent their recent top-10 draft pick and a player who carried such high expectations to Rochester in the American Hockey League. Toby Petersen, now a skills coach for the Avalanche, was an assistant coach on that team.

    Things had not gone according to plan with the Sabres after joining the club after his freshman season at the University of Minnesota and a full rookie season in the NHL at 20 years old. Mittelstadt played 36 games with Petersen and the Americans.

    “I think that was a big turning point for myself,” Mittelstadt said. “I was able to go down and just play really freely. The coaches were really supportive. I think I started to really enjoy being at the rink with the guys and having fun again. I realized that I love this game and this is what I want to do. Having Toby on the staff was huge for me. He and Chris Taylor, they’re great guys and great people and they helped me a lot.”

    Mittelstadt’s rise, fall and rebirth as an NHL player is a reminder that not every prospect, not even the phenoms, has a smooth, linear path to fulfilling their potential. He is one of the best players in Minnesota high school hockey history. He was the No. 8 pick in the 2017 NHL draft.

    Players picked that high, particularly forwards, often never see the AHL. And when they do after spending 114 games in the NHL, it’s seen as a disappointment. Mittelstadt said there were a lot of people who deserved credit for helping him get to this point — in the midst of a second-straight productive season and the No. 2 center on a Stanley Cup contender after the Avs traded defenseman Bo Byram for him this past week.

    Hockey is a small world, and Mittelstadt, now 25 years old, is reunited with one of those people.

    “I was pretty excited when I heard (Petersen) was here,” Mittelstadt said. “He’s a familiar face and someone that I can bounce things off. We had a great relationship in Rochester. He’s obviously a smart hockey mind, so definitely excited to have him here.”

    The Avalanche believes Mittelstadt can solve what has been the organization’s toughest riddle: Who can be the next center on the depth chart after Nathan MacKinnon? It worked with Nazem Kardi, and there’s a Stanley Cup banner at Ball Arena as a reminder.

    It has not worked to varying degrees with several others, most recently Alex Newhook, J.T. Compher and Ryan Johansen. Mittelstadt began his Avs career Friday night next to Valeri Nichushkin and Jonathan Drouin, and both his new coach and general manager have made it clear that’s the spot in the lineup they expect him to help upgrade.

    “We’re not trading Bo Byram for a 31-year-old or a 30-year-old. We’re not trading Bo Byram probably for a winger,” Avs GM Chris MacFarland said Friday. “Defensemen are really hard to get, and top-two line centers, top-three line centers are really hard to get. You’ve got to draft them or you’ve got to pay a big price to get them, whether that’s in free agency or via trade. So the fact that we traded a player and a person of Bo’s stature for Casey tells you what we think of him.

    “We think an awful lot of him. We think he’s going to have a big role here. Hopefully it will be a good marriage, but we’re excited to have him.”

    Mittelstadt’s breakout didn’t happen directly after his time in Rochester, but injuries and the COVID-19 pandemic were factors. He played 81 games across two seasons, and the production did tick upward.

    A bigger jump came last season. He finished with 15 goals and 59 points. He followed that up this year with 14 goals and a team-leading 47 points in 62 games before the trade. If he can produce at a similar level for the Avalanche, Colorado will have its most productive No. 2 center since Kadri left.

    But the Avs believe there could still be more for Mittelstadt to unlock. MacFarland mentioned it the day they traded for him. Mittelstadt has taken longer to blossom into an impact player, but the jump from high school hockey to the NHL with just one season at the NCAA level might have been too much, too fast.

    His body needed time to develop, and he needed time to figure out how to translate his sublime skills to the pace and physicality of the NHL.

    “He’s got good hands. He’s a very good playmaking center with really good vision,” MacFarland said. “We think the last two years, his game has taken a jump. He’s gotten stronger with experience, and we think there might even be another level to his game.”

    There’s another reason to dream a little more on Mittelstadt. Several young players have left Buffalo in recent seasons, a franchise that hasn’t reached the Stanley Cup Playoffs since 2011, and found a new level of performance elsewhere.

    Sam Reinhart, Evan Rodrigues, Brandon Montour and Linus Ullmark, who were all teammates of Mittelstadt’s when he broke into the NHL, have all reached new heights after moving on.

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    Corey Masisak

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  • Nuggets, Celtics to play 2024 preseason games in Abu Dhabi, NBA announces

    Nuggets, Celtics to play 2024 preseason games in Abu Dhabi, NBA announces

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    The Denver Nuggets and Boston Celtics will play a pair of 2024-25 preseason games in Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates, the NBA announced Wednesday morning.

    Part of an ongoing collaboration between the NBA and Abu Dhabi’s Department of Culture and Tourism, the games will take place Friday Oct. 4 and Sunday Oct. 6. The venue and ticket information will not be shared until a later date, according to a news release.

    “There is incredible momentum around basketball in the UAE and across the Middle East,” NBA deputy commissioner and COO Mark Tatum said in a statement, “and we believe these games as well as our year-round grassroots development and fan engagement efforts will be a catalyst for the continued growth of the game in the region.”

    The Nuggets (42-20) and Celtics (48-13) will face off Thursday (8 p.m. MT, TNT) at Ball Arena in their last meeting of the 2023-24 regular season. Boston holds the best record in the league, while Denver is the defending NBA champion.

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    Bennett Durando

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  • Keeler: Nuggets star Jamal Murray could ruin LeBron James’ record-setting night. But is that worth risking Murray’s bad ankle?

    Keeler: Nuggets star Jamal Murray could ruin LeBron James’ record-setting night. But is that worth risking Murray’s bad ankle?

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    Michael Adams’ heart did a one-handed push shot right past his chest, then sank straight into his hands.

    There he was, baseline royalty, right under the basket. First time back at Ball Arena in about six years, and Jamal Murray lands like a dead fish three feet in front of him, rolling on the floor.

    Suddenly, in a cruel twist of irony and a crueler twist of an ankle, one of the greatest shooters in Nuggets history had a front-row seat to watch the Blue Arrow, his spiritual successor, writhe in agony.

    “I just heard him say, ‘Oh my God,’” Adams, the Nuggets’ 3-point ace from 1987-91, said of the Blue Arrow’s sprain just before halftime, the one that cast a pall over the Nuggets’ scrappy 103-97 victory over the Miami Heat in an NBA Finals rematch.

    “So when (Murray) grabbed his ankle, I was like, ‘OK, it’s his ankle … it wasn’t his knee.’”

    Join the club, brother.

    I know what you’re thinking: Man, the Lakers are next. Is there a better, sweeter feeling for Nuggets faithful than watching Murray prop his feet up on the couch in The House Kobe Built and drop daggers all over Tinseltown? Especially on LeBron’s big night? Over his last six regular-season appearances against the Lake Show, the Blue Arrow’s averaged 23.5 points, 6.3 assists and 3.2 treys.

    But by the same token, did you see the anguish on the guy’s face as he staggered off the baseline and limped to the locker room? Why push your luck? Especially when that luck is as fickle as Jamal’s?

    “Injuries happen,” Adams told me, “but in this situation, you want the Nuggets to be healthy toward the end of the season … if he’s not ready to go, they’ll sit him down and let him get healthy. They’ve still got some time (to finish) the season with him on the floor.”

    This ain’t about want-to. Or toughness. Murray was raised like a basketball ninja in chilly Ontario, a childhood montage that included push-ups in the snow and balancing cups of hot tea on his thigh during squats. The Arrow would sooner swim through shark-infested waters wearing a chum suit than accept defeat.

    Still, if I’m Nuggets coach Michael Malone, I’m overriding Murray’s inner Bruce Lee and reaching for the bubble wrap.

    The NBA Playoffs, the land of bright lights, big stages and swollen egos where No. 27 reigns supreme, is seven weeks away yet. The No. 1 seed in the West is a heck of a target, yes, and the Nuggets went into Friday trailing the Wolves by a game-and-a-half.

    Everything’s on the table now. Including disaster. And you sure as heck don’t get a parade in June by redlining Murray in early March.

    “When Jamal realizes, ‘Hey, man, we’ve got 23 games to go, this (ankle) is not feeling great right now,’ I think it’s great for him to realize being cautious right now is probably the really prudent decision,” Malone said late Thursday night. “And that shows also (his) maturity. He’s growing and realizing that we (need him long-term) …

    “(People insist), ‘You should be the No. 1 seed.’ Yeah, that’d be great. I want to be healthy. Because I know if we’re healthy, that we can beat anybody, anywhere.”

    Dang straight.

    Murray ended the first quarter Thursday by draining a 3-pointer at the buzzer with four Miami hands in his face. He ended the second in the bowels of Ball Arena, getting treatment on a right ankle that got rolled during an accidental collision with teammate Aaron Gordon.

    The tumble happened, as kismet would have it, right in front of Adams, now 61 and working with the Washington Wizards, and his son.

    “I actually wanted to bring my All-Star ring here to let him hold onto it until he actually made one,” said Adams, who represented Washington at the NBA’s mid-winter classic back in 1992. “And to (tell Murray), ‘You deserve to be on an All-Star team.’ I didn’t do it. But I wanted to.”

    In his salad days, Adams was Steph Curry before Steph, 5-foot-10 with a funky release, cold-blooded to the core, a shooter ahead of his time. Especially once ex-Nuggets coach Doug Moe gave him the green light.

    “I’m a big fan of Murray — obviously, him and Nikola (Jokic) are just out-of-this-world players,” said Adams, who averaged 18.2 points and 7.2 dimes over four seasons with Denver. “I love watching him play. I was just telling my son, ‘If I was backing up Jamal Murray, and he just went out of the game, I’d be happy to be on the floor with the rest of those guys right now.’”

    He’d be happier still to see Murray rest that ankle until the Arrow’s closer to 100%. And like Malone, he’d rather have the Nuggets healthy come mid-April than exhaust their stars in a seeding chase.

    “You want (those starters) on the floor, but health is No. 1,” Adams said. “I think the Nuggets can beat anybody on the road (in the playoffs) if they had to.”

    Nine solid weeks of Murray in the spring is worth its weight in gold. At least 29 pounds of it, last we checked.

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    Sean Keeler

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  • Michael Porter Jr. scores season-high 34 as Nuggets cruise past Trail Blazers

    Michael Porter Jr. scores season-high 34 as Nuggets cruise past Trail Blazers

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    PORTLAND, Ore. — Written on the locker room whiteboard Thursday night at Ball Arena was a summons for players to get to the Denver airport by 10:20 p.m. for their team flight to Oregon. It was an unrealistic goal, especially considering Nikola Jokic’s typically methodical postgame process and media obligation.

    So maybe the Nuggets were a little late to take off. They made it to Portland just fine.

    And after a slightly slow start at Moda Center the next night, the defending champions took off and earned a 127-112 win over the Blazers, sweeping a back-to-back out of the All-Star break. Michael Malone called a timeout after three early turnovers yielded an 8-3 deficit. Then Denver cruised.

    The Nuggets (38-19) gave Jamal Murray the night off to avoid straining him in the back-to-back after he went into the break dealing with shin splints. His absence was more for precautionary reasons after an encouraging performance against the Wizards and before a marquee matchup Sunday at the Warriors. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, on the other hand, played after missing the second half of Thursday’s game with a sprained finger.

    Without Murray, Nikola Jokic posted a triple-double by the end of the third quarter for the second time in 24 hours, and Michael Porter Jr. scored a season-high 34 points on 21 shots to go with a dozen rebounds.

    “I was just getting easy shots. My teammates were finding me in transition,” Porter said. “When a player like ‘Mal is out, a lot of guys have gotta step up.”

    “Michael is such a big target, and (defenders) play on the high side, so they’re trying to make him a 2-point scorer,” Malone said. “And he’s shown that he can do that just as efficiently (as scoring from three). This was a night when Michael played at a high level throughout the course of the game.”

    Jokic finished the night with 29 points, 15 boards and 14 assists on 12-of-17 shooting. With 2:37 remaining in the first half, he missed his first shot in 15 attempts since the break. Aaron Gordon also supplied another efficient and well-rounded game, going for eight points on 4-of-5 shooting (all in the first half) and seven assists.

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    Bennett Durando

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