The Denver Nuggets should be 3-0 since the trade that brought Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler and Raymond Felton to town, but there is a fine line between "should" and "are" in the NBA.
After winning their first two games since the departure of Chauncey Billups and Carmelo Anthony, the Nuggets (34-26) were a missed lay-up at the buzzer away from being a perfect 3-0. Instead they are on a one-game losing streak as they host the Atlanta Hawks on Monday night at the Pepsi Center.
The new Nuggets missed the first post-trade game, but have now played in the past two. In those games Chandler is averaging 18 points and 5.5 rebounds per game, Gallinari is averaging 16 ppg after scoring 30 on Friday night and Felton has scored 11 points and dished out 12 assists in the two games.
Joe Johnson leads the Hawks (35-23) in scoring and assists, with 19.2 ppg and 5.3 apg. Al Horford leads the team in rebounding at 9.8 rpg and Josh Smith leads in steals and blocks.
The game tips at 8:30 p.m. and is the third consecutive Nuggets game that can be seen on national TV, this one on ESPN.