The Denver Nuggets (8-5) have not played their best basketball of late, but they travel to Wisconsin to take on the Milwaukee Bucks (4-8) on Tuesday night. Denver has lost three of their last five games and is coming off a home loss to the Utah Jazz on Sunday night. They are now just 3-3 when their opponents holds them under 100 points. Despite their struggles on the road, Bucks are one of only five NBA teams -- the Chicago Bulls, San Antonio Spurs, Indiana Pacers, Philadelphia 76ers and Bucks -- that are still undefeated on their home court in the 2011-12 season.
For the Nuggets, this is the start of a five-game road trip that also includes games against the Philadelphia 76ers, Washington Wizards, New York Knicks and Sacramento Kings. Denver defeated the Bucks 91-86 earlier this season behind 21 points and 10 rebounds from Danilo Gallinari, but this time around they will also have Nene available when they visit the Bucks. Frank Madden at SB Nation's Milwaukee Bucks blog, Brew Hoop, explains:
The Bucks couldn't take advantage of Nene's absence in Denver, though it may not have helped the Bucks as much as you might think. George Karl's decision to play sixth man of the year candidate Al Harrington at center down the stretch was critical to putting the game away, but that's less likely to happen with Nene available. The Brazilian hasn't had a great start to the season (by his standards), but he's still a beast around the rim (68%) and has been rebounding exceptionally well (17.6%). Given Nene's strength down low, I'm curious to see if Scott Skiles actually lets Jon Leuer defend him early or if he cross-matches him with Bogut. For what it's worth: Leuer's allowed a solid 0.75 points per play this season defending post-ups via Synergy, although the sample size is a miniscule eight plays. Bogut's allowed 0.59 PPP in 17 attempts.
Game day/time: Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012, 6:00 p.m. MT
Location: Bradley Center, Milwaukee, WI
TV: Altitude
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