The Denver Nuggets are set to host the struggling Golden State Warriors, who are coming off a disappointing loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night. In a rather surprising move, the Dubs decided to give Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Andrew Wiggins the night off, making the Nuggets the firm favorites to mark a win against an extremely shorthanded squad.
As it turns out, however, Nuggets head coach Michael Malone isn't buying into any of this. As a matter of fact, the 50-year-old shot-caller admitted that he's afraid to face this particular iteration of the Warriors:
“It's scary as hell,” Malone said, via Joey Linn of FanNation. “The last time that they rested a lot of their guys, they went down to San Antonio and they hit 20 threes. Jordan Poole had 33 points, they had a huge comeback in the 4th quarter to get that win.”
The man has a point here. Let's not forget that these are NBA players we're talking about and that any one of them is capable of going off on any given night. Malone appears to have his sights set on Poole, who is definitely one of those players who could have a hot night against the Nuggets.
Aside from Curry, Thompson, and Wiggins, though, the Warriors will also be without Otto Porter Jr., who was ruled out before the game because of an illness. Porter joins a long list of players on the Warriors' injury list which also includes Draymond Green, James Wiseman, Gary Payton II, and Andre Iguodala.
The Nuggets, on the other hand, will be without veteran Will Barton, who was ruled out due to a left ankle sprain. Nikola Jokic also appeared on the injury list with an illness but he does not seem in danger of missing this one, especially considering how he went off on Sunday night in a win against the New Orleans Pelicans with a 46-point triple-double.
The Nuggets have now won five out of its six games after the All-Star break. They are sitting at the sixth spot in the Western Conference and are looking to improve their standing as the regular season winds down.
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