Shorthanded Nuggets start road trip against Wizards
The Denver Nuggets began their just-concluded three-game homestand on a roll, as Jamal Murray erupted for 42 points and Tim Hardaway Jr. added a season-high 30 in a 121-115 win over the Washington Wizards.
The Nuggets followed up their 6-1 stretch by dropping their next two contests, leading to head coach David Adelman entertaining a host of questions ahead of the team's opener of a three-game road trip against the Washington Wizards on Thursday.
"When you lose, you always look back and second-guess yourself," Adelman said after Denver's 115-107 setback to the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday. "Maybe I should have played a ninth person? Does that mean that the other guys have better legs? I have no idea. But maybe. ... This is what it is, man. We just have to fight through this."
Murray scored just two of his 28 points after halftime on Tuesday for the Nuggets, who mustered just 36 points in the second half to see a 16-point lead evaporate.
Denver also struggled on the boards for the second straight outing. The Charlotte Hornets held a 52-29 advantage in rebounds during their 110-87 victory over the Nuggets on Sunday, and the Lakers enjoyed a 51-31 edge on the boards.
Those numbers are a bit skewed given Denver is missing three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic (league-leading 12.2 rebounds per game) and fellow big man Jonas Valanciunas (4.7). The former has sat out 12 games while recovering from a hyperextended left knee that resulted in a bone bruise, while the latter has missed 11 games due to a right calf strain.
Adelman admitted that Jokic's recovery has been "kind of up and down" while Valanciunas appears to be making better progress.
"I really mean this: Us winning some games has nothing to do with us holding them out," Adelman said. "This has just been what it is. Their process has been what it is. ... Those guys will get taken care of, and they'll be back. My biggest concern is the guys I'm playing now. And I'm playing Jamal a lot of minutes. I'm playing Tim too many minutes. I played Aaron (Gordon) over what we thought would be our restriction to win a game. That's the worry."
The worry in Washington is yet another losing streak. The skid reached seven games after the team wilted down the stretch in a 110-106 setback to the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday.
Alex Sarr scored 28 points in that contest, marking the 11th time he has reached the 20-point plateau this season -- one more than his rookie campaign in 2024-25.
Kyshawn George followed up a 29-point performance versus the Nuggets with 18 points versus the Clippers.
Wizards rookie Jamir Watkins earned praise from head coach Brian Keefe for his dogged determination while defending former NBA MVP and 11-time All-Star James Harden.
"This is a first-year player who does some really unique things," Keefe said of Watkins, who finished with seven rebounds in just 19 minutes of play.
"Fighting over screens, using his physicality, he's learning all these different things on the fly, and he's pretty advanced for a guy who's only played about 25 games with us."