NBA Preview: Milwaukee Bucks (9-39) vs. Denver Nuggets (23-23)
By Andrew Dill
Mar 21, 2013; Denver, CO, USA; A general view of the Pepsi Center floor before the game between the Denver Nuggets and the Philadelphia 76ers. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports
The Denver Nuggets (23-23) are coming off of a big win over one of the better teams in the Western Conference in the Los Angeles Clippers. Randy Foye would be the hero as the shooting guard curled off of a screen set by J.J. Hickson and hit the running three over Blake Griffin for the 116-115 win. The Nuggets would also get a key piece of their roster back in the line-up as Ty Lawson returned to action after missing two games. The guard would explode for 27 points on 10-of-19 shooting collecting 6 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals.
What: NBA Preview: Milwaukee Bucks vs. Denver Nuggets
When: Wednesday, February 5th
Where: Pepsi Center
Time: 9:00 PM ET, 7:00 PM MT
TV: Altitude Sports
This will be the first of two meetings between the two teams this season. Randy Foye as noted above has been a key piece to this Nuggets team including the three-pointer he hit on Monday to elevate the Nuggets to a win. J.J. Hickson spoke about his teammate:
"“He’s a great shooter, and he’s been shooting the ball lights-out for most of his career,” forward J.J. Hickson said. “One thing about Foye, whether he’s on balance or not, he’s going to make sure he’s got some air under the ball and hold his follow through, and he knocked down a big shot for us."
Just when power forward Kenneth Faried was under a lot of scrutiny with his role on this team, he collected a career-high 28 points and 11 rebounds against a team with a good front court. If Kenneth Faried can continue to put up points and rebounds, you have to like Denver’s chances of winning ball games. Here is a neat stat from ESPN: Denver has won 13 out of their last 14 games when Faried scores 13 or more points.
Good news for the Nuggets is that they run into a team that has struggled all year against Western Conference opponents. Milwaukee is 1-16 against the west while their only win came against the Los Angeles Lakers on December 31st.
Projected Starting Line-Ups:
Milwaukee Bucks:
PG: Brandon Knight
SG: Nate Wolters
SF: Khris Middleton
PF: Ersan Ilyasova
C: Larry Sanders
Denver Nuggets:
PG: Ty Lawson
SG: Randy Foye
SF: Wilson Chandler
PF: Kenneth Faried
C: J.J. Hickson