The Memphis Grizzlies will make the trip to Ball Arena in Colorado to face the Denver Nuggets in their penultimate game of the regular season in the NBA on Saturday.
While the playoff situation in the Eastern Conference looks fairly straightforward, it is a completely different story in the West, where five teams are still battling to avoid the Play-in round.
Match preview
© Imago
It has been an eventful couple of weeks for the Denver Nuggets, who are enduring a late-season slump that has led to them opting to part ways with head coach Michael Malone just days before the start of the postseason.
Denver suffered four consecutive defeats against the Timberwolves, Spurs, Warriors and Pacers since the start of the month, but managed to avoid a fifth-straight loss on Wednesday when they beat the Kings 124-116 on the road.
Nikola Jokic delivered another standout performance, tallying a triple-double of 20 points with 12 rebounds and 11 assists, Christian Braun put up 25 points, and Aaron Gordon and Michael Porter Jr added 21 points each.
That win took them to fourth place in the Western Conference, but they are not assured a playoff spot just yet, with the Clippers level on 48-32, while Golden State, Memphis and Minnesota are just one game behind with two left to play.
Despite their recent issues, the Nuggets are the third-highest-scoring team in the NBA this season, averaging 120.7 points per game, but they are bottom 10 on the defensive end, allowing 117.0 PPG.
© Imago
Meanwhile, like Denver, the Memphis Grizzlies are also set to head into the postseason with a new coach after axing long-time boss Taylor Jenkins nine games before the end of the campaign.
Tuomas Iisalo is now in charge of the Grizz, but it has been a tough start for the interim head coach, with his side having now lost eight of their last 12 games overall after going down 141-125 to the Timberwolves last night.
Despite another big performance by Ja Morant, who put up 36 points and six assists on 13 of 27 shooting, Memphis were blown away 52-25 in the third quarter and went down by 23, which was too big a deficit for them to make up in the fourth.
As a result, the Grizzlies are now level with the Warriors and Timberwolves 47-33, and have the toughest schedule of all three teams, with the Dallas Mavericks to come in the season finale on Sunday.
Still, the visitors are the second-highest-scoring team in the league this season, averaging 121.7 points per game, but they allow 0.1 points more than their upcoming opponent on the defensive end.
- W
- L
- L
- L
- L
- W
- L
- L
- W
- W
- W
- L
Team News
© Imago
Jamal Murray has now missed the last six games for the Nuggets owing to inflammation on his right ankle, but his injury status has been upgraded to questionable for this match, while DaRon Holmes II is confirmed out.
Nikola Jokic continues to be the glue that holds this team together and remains an MVP-calibre force, averaging 29.8 points, 12.8 rebounds and an incredible 10.2 assists per game.
For the Grizz, Jaylen Wells was stretched off the court against the Hornets on Tuesday and he is likely to miss the remainder of the season alongside Brandon Clarke, who has a serious knee injury.
Jaren Jackson Jr has been a pillar of consistency for Memphis this season, averaging 22.2 points and 5.8 rebounds, while Ja Morant is the driving force behind the offence with an average of 23 points and 7.3 assists per game.
Denver Nuggets possible starting five:
Gordon, Porter Jr, Jokic, Braun, Pickett
Memphis Grizzlies possible starting five:
Jackson Jr, Williams Jr, Edey, Bane, Morant
We say: Denver Nuggets to win by 3+ points
Both of these sides have not been in the best form of late, but the Grizzlies are entering this match at the end of a back-to-back, and following a crushing defeat to the Timberwolves last night.
With the rest and home advantage, and Jokic firing on all cylinders, we feel the Nuggets will clinch their playoff berth with a win in this one.
Devesh Jaganath
