With the All-Star break looming, Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone hopes his workforce can acquire some momentum throughout a stretch of 4 video games in six days that begins with a street sport towards the Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder on Saturday.

“The schedule’s been unrelenting, however it’s what it’s,” Malone stated. “We have got to discover a technique to combat by this the final 4 video games going into the break.”

One in all Malone’s largest frustrations just lately has been rebounding.

In late January, the Nuggets have been the NBA’s second-best workforce on the boards.

“The final, I do not know, two weeks, we have been a far cry from that,” Malone stated after Denver’s 112-110 loss to the visiting Washington Wizards on Thursday. “We do not get a ton of second-chance factors anymore, and we have been actually harm on the glass.

“Huge or small, the blokes on the market bought to make sure we’re not ball-watching.”

Over the previous two weeks, Denver has dropped out of the highest 10 in rebounding proportion. Equally, the Nuggets have fallen off in opponent’s second-chance manufacturing.

A part of that has been a spate of accidents. Paul Millsap (knee) will miss his seventh consecutive sport Saturday, and JaMychal Inexperienced (shoulder) might be out for the fourth straight sport. Gary Harris (thigh) will sit out for the fifth time in a row, however P.J. Dozier (hamstring) may very well be again after a 15-game absence.

“We lack a presence within the center that may simply deter layups,” Denver’s Jamal Murray stated. “That is form of irritating. We are able to play good protection after which late (within the) shot clock, they get a drive and kick and we do not have a presence there to go up there and problem the shot.”

The Nuggets are 2-4 over their previous six video games.

The Thunder have gained two straight and three of their previous 4, together with a 118-109 victory over the visiting Atlanta Hawks on Friday.

Oklahoma Metropolis might be with out Hamidou Diallo for the second consecutive sport. Diallo’s groin harm — which may preserve him out till after the All-Star break — opened the door for Ty Jerome to make his Thunder debut.

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Jerome had 9 factors and a career-high-tying seven assists in 22 minutes on Friday, a day after being recalled from the G League.

Jerome sustained an ankle harm on the opening day of coaching camp after being acquired in an offseason commerce with the Phoenix Suns.

“I believed he did an awesome job plugging in,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault stated. “It was an uphill restoration for certain.”

Jerome helped the Thunder keep afloat when Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was on the bench.

Gilgeous-Alexander has been a serious motive for Oklahoma Metropolis’s success of late, capturing higher than 62 % from the sector and averaging 31 factors over the previous 4 video games. He completed with 24 factors on 9-of-16 capturing towards the Hawks.

That is the groups’ third and ultimate assembly of the season and the one one in Oklahoma Metropolis. The Nuggets gained the primary two, 119-101 on Jan. 19 and 97-95 on Feb. 12.

–Discipline Degree Media