Bucks vs. Nuggets Preview
Denver, CO (AP)– Surprisingly, the Denver Nuggets put up their highest point total of the season without their leading scorer. They’re hoping to have him back in time to face the Milwaukee Bucks, though.
The Bucks have taken four of the last five meetings with Denver, but travel to face a Nuggets team Wednesday night which has won four in a row and six straight at home.
Oddsmakers from online sports book Sportsbook.com have made the X point spread favorites for Wednesday’s game against the X. Current NBA Public Betting Information shows that X% of more than X bets for this game have been placed on the X.
Carmelo Anthony was in the starting lineup and scored two points Sunday night against Phoenix, but took himself out 2:48 into the game after feeling ill, ending his streak of 134 regular season games with double-digit points.
Anthony, averaging a team-best 23.8 points, had been experiencing flu-like symptoms since Nov. 22 against Golden State, but tried to give it a go against the Suns.
“He wanted to try it,” coach George Karl said. “Melo knows how important he is, but he probably made the right decision. He didn’t look very good. He didn’t look like a healthy guy.”
Without Anthony, the Nuggets topped their previous high this season by 18 points and had their highest point total since scoring 147 in double overtime at Seattle on April 6, 2008.
After missing two games with a sprained right wrist and broken nose, Chauncey Billups returned to the lineup and was one of seven players who finished in double figures during a 138-133 win.
Billups, who scored a season-high 25 and dished out eight assists, went 4 of 6 from long distance as the Nuggets (10-6) matched a franchise record with 16 3-pointers versus the Suns.
Despite the offensive outburst Sunday, the Nuggets allowed a season-worst 44 points in the final 12 minutes and almost let the game get away.
“We’ve got to do a better job of that,” Arron Afflalo told the team’s official website. “Closing games is one thing when they’re tight, but when you have double-digit leads with single-digit time left in the fourth quarter, we have to do a much better job of getting stops and managing the clock.”
Milwaukee lost for the sixth time in seven games, falling 109-88 at Utah on Monday night as it continued to struggle from the field.
The Bucks (6-11) have connected on 37.9 percent of their attempts in the past six contests and are averaging 90.8 points on the road – among the worst in the NBA.
While his team has had issues scoring, Brandon Jennings has heated up by averaging 28.0 points over his last three games.
Jennings had mixed results against the Nuggets during his 2009-10 rookie season, scoring 32 in the first matchup and nine in the second – both Bucks wins.
Chris Douglas-Roberts, who missed the first 15 games of the season with an eye injury, had 11 points in his debut Saturday versus Charlotte before scoring 19 against the Jazz.
“I feel pretty good but as a whole we just have to do better.” he said. “We’re not supposed to lose this bad.”
Andrew Bogut missed his fourth straight game with back spasms Monday and Drew Gooden was held out with a foot injury as coach Scott Skiles was without his two leading rebounders.
“They were short tonight, but that’s a great team,” Utah’s Al Jefferson said of the Bucks. “When they’re healthy, they’ll be really good. That coach (Skiles) makes every team he ever coached play hard.”
Milwaukee is limiting opponents to 92.9 points per game, but could have its hands full against Denver, which is averaging 112.9 at home.
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