The Denver Nuggets will be without several players due to injury. This has prompted head coach George Karl to move rookies Kenneth Faried and Julyan Stone into the starting lineup.

#Nuggets coach George Karl planning on starting rookies @KennethFaried35 and @J_Stone1zero. He wants to keep his bench rotation intact.

— Denver Nuggets (@denvernuggets) February 6, 2012

This means that Kosta Koufos at center, Danilo Gallinari at small forward, and Ty Lawson at point guard will be joined by Kenneth Faried at power forward and Julyan Stone as the off guard. Andre Miller will come off the bench along with Al Harrington.

The injuries forcing these moves: Nene is out with a left heel sprain; Arron Afflalo is unable to play due to a left ankle sprain and a right big toe sprain; and Timofey Mozgov is out with an ankle sprain. The bench will be short, as well, with Corey Brewer leaving the team to be with his family following the passing of his father.

Game time/date: 7:00 p.m. MT, Feb. 6, 2012

Location: Pepsi Center, Denver, CO

TV: Altitude, FSN-Houston

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