Mining for Nuggets - Nuggets at Wolves GDT

[60WinTim]

Starting this one early since I'll be out for awhile today. The Wolves are 6-1 in November and inline with my November forecast of 12-3. Tonight is a game I had chalked up as a loss -- OKC and Denver were widely regarded as the top two teams in the West heading into the season. But Denver is dinged up a bit, the Wolves are playing well (albeit against bad teams), and the line is currently in the Wolves favor by 2.5 points!

The KAT trade is looking mighty sweet right now. Both Julius and Donte are kicking off with potentially career years in their starting roles. Plus Beringer for the future. Nice!

The ANT-less Wolves were unable to contain Murray a couple weeks ago. Hopefully they are better tonight with ANT. It's still gonna be a tough game, especially have played a tight game last night.

[FNG]

Surprisingly the Wolves are 2 1/2 point favorites against a Nuggets team that has won 6 in a row, with the last 5 by double digits. In fact, every one of their 9 wins has been by double digits except one. Jokic is having his best season, and that's a very high bar to exceed. We may be favored because Denver is missing two starters...Braun and Johnson. It's still surprising to me though.

We talk a lot about surviving the non-Rudy minutes, but Denver has a much bigger problem surviving the non-Jokic minutes. They outscore their opponents by an incredible 28.5 points per 100 possessions when he is out there compared to not. But JoVal is the mirror image...they are outscored by 27.1 points per 100 when he is on versus off. We absolutely have to dominate when Jokic is out to win this game, and that of course will be a challenge if Rudy is out.

Will the Wolves put Randle on Jokic and let Rudy play free safety? That used to work when Gordon was a poor 3-point shooter, but those days are over as he has become a 40+% guy. But with Braun and Johnson out, they may have to give a lot of minutes to something called Spencer Jones, and Rudy may be able to leave him alone. Bruce Brown will get more minutes also, and he's another guy i think we can dare to shoot if we want Rudy lurking in or near the paint.

There are some rumors that KG may be showing up tonight for Prince night. That could be inspirational if it happens.

[FNG]

Even more significant than Braun and Johnson being out, Jokic is questionable with an issue to his left wrist. I suspect he plays, but it would enhance our chances if he's not 100%.

[AussieWolf3]

Even more significant than Braun and Johnson being out, Jokic is questionable with an issue to his left wrist. I suspect he plays, but it would enhance our chances if he's not 100%.

To be honest I still hope he plays, I want to see this team tested

[Coolbreeze44]

Even more significant than Braun and Johnson being out, Jokic is questionable with an issue to his left wrist. I suspect he plays, but it would enhance our chances if he's not 100%.

To be honest I still hope he plays, I want to see this team tested

Yep, we can handle Denver when they are at full strength, and I'd like to show it.

[Coolbreeze44]

What is Jaden's status for tonight?

[FNG]

What is Jaden's status for tonight?

Not mentioned on the injury report.

Nobody can move a line like Jokic. The Wolves were favored all day by 2 1/2 when Joker was listed as questionable, but now the Nuggets are favored by 1 1/2. That tells me Joker is playing.

[60WinTim]

Yup. They announced the starters:

Wolves starters...

Donte DiVincenzo
Anthony Edwards
Jaden McDaniels
Julius Randle
Rudy Gobert

Nuggets starters...

Jamal Murray
Tim Hardaway Jr.
Peyton Watson
Aaron Gordon
Nikola Jokic

[60WinTim]

He might be a bit biased, but Tom Crean has been a nice addition to the Wolves media team.

[FNG]

He might be a bit biased, but Tom Crean has been a nice addition to the Wolves media team.

Yeah, he's good. And let's not forget he thinks Rob is going to be a very good NBA player.

3 sloppy turnovers by Rudy in the first 5 minutes.