Denver, CO

Game Preview: San Antonio Spurs vs Denver Nuggets

Published

1 year ago

January 4, 2025

Game Preview: San Antonio Spurs vs Denver Nuggets

Winning streaks, no matter how modest, have a way of turning heads. After all, winning doesn’t just mask flaws— for a young team it can serve as a megaphone for potential. For the Spurs, riding the wave of a two-game winning streak, Saturday night’s rematch against the Denver Nuggets presents an opportunity to keep the good vibes rolling.

Last night’s victory over the Nuggets was no small feat. Facing a team headlined by Nikola Jokić, the Spurs managed to pull off an upset that featured standout performances from their young core, including—you guessed it—Victor Wembanyama. The rookie sensation’s presence in the paint and versatility on both ends of the floor were instrumental, and if San Antonio hopes to repeat the feat, they’ll likely need another big night from him.

Of course, back-to-back matchups in the NBA often turn into chess matches. Denver will surely make adjustments, particularly after a game where their offense stalled for stretches against a Spurs team that seemed to find its defensive rhythm. Expect Jokić to come out firing, eager to remind everyone why he’s a two-time MVP, and watch for Jamal Murray to step up after a quiet-ish performance last night.

For the Spurs, sustaining momentum means ironing out their weak points. Their defense in transition remains a question mark, and while the bench contributed admirably in the last outing, consistency has been elusive this season. San Antonio’s backup bigs will need to hold the fort when Wembanyama takes a breather, especially against a Denver front-court maestro who can easily punish mismatches.

The Nuggets, for their part, know how to respond to adversity. They’re still a top-tier team, ranking in the NBA’s upper echelon in offensive efficiency (4th in offensive rating, 3rd in scoring) and one off-night isn’t going to derail their championship ambitions.

For now, though, San Antonio has a chance to extend their win streak to three games. Can they stay one step ahead of a determined Denver squad, or will the Nuggets squash the Spurs’ momentum before it really gets rolling?

One thing’s for sure: The Frost Bank Center should be buzzing, and with Wembanyama on the court, anything feels possible.

Denver Nuggets at San Antonio Spurs

January 4th, 2025 | 7:00 CT

Watch: FanDuel Sports Network Southwest |Listen: WOAI (1200 AM)

Spurs Injuries: Jeremy Sochan – Out (Back)

Nuggets Injuries: Aaron Gordon – Out (Calf), Vlatko Cancar – Out (Knee)

What to watch for

Victor Wembanyama: Winter Terror

By this point, you’ve probably seen the glory that is Wemby’s December stat line, but somehow he’s managed to find yet another gear over the last 10 games, sitting within spitting distance of averaging a 4×5 (29/9/4/4.9) on a 39/49/90 shooting split in just 33 minutes. To say that he’s must-watch television is somehow an understatement right now.

For the Nuggets fan’s perspective, please visit Denver Stiffs.

PtR’s Game thread will be up this evening for those who want to chat through the game. You can also follow along with the action through PtR’s Twitter feed.

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Denver, CO

Are GLP-1 weight-loss drugs really rewriting Denver restaurant menus? | Opinion

Published

11 hours ago

February 11, 2026

Press Room

Are GLP-1 weight-loss drugs really rewriting Denver restaurant menus? | Opinion

Food, Honestly is a monthly column discussing how people actually eat right now – not through reviews or recipes, but through real talk about cost, convenience and everyday food decisions. We want you to participate in that discussion by telling us what matters to you. Email allysoneatsden@gmail.com to keep the conversation going.

GLP-1s, drugs designed to regulate blood sugar, weren’t supposed to disrupt how we eat. They were built for metabolic control, not cultural upheaval, but it’s their effect on appetite that’s been the plot twist.

David J. Phillip, Associated Press file

Drugs like Ozempic are changing the way we eat. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)

Now, if you want to see how drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro have reshaped how we eat, don’t look to a scale or a lab report. Look at a restaurant menu.

It was actually back in 2005 that the first GLP-1 drug was approved to treat Type 2 diabetes, but unless you were directly affected, you probably didn’t hear about these sorts of drugs until the more potent Ozempic entered our cultural lexicon. Over the past couple of years, as millions of Americans began taking these GLP-1s — and as appetites have shrunk — restaurants started to notice.

Some of the changes? Downsized portions, cocktails losing their alcohol and protein pushing its way into everything from our morning coffee to ice cream cones. What began as a medical intervention is now rewriting the menu.

I’ll admit, I thought last August’s New York Times story about restaurants shrinking portion sizes in response to Ozempic was just clickbait. Mostly, it was my own ignorance. I thought of the drugs as something only celebrities and rich people were taking for vanity, and I didn’t understand how they actually work.

The reality is that 18% of Americans have taken a GLP-1 drug for one reason or another, and those numbers are expected to grow substantially this year as new pills hit the market and as prices come down. Essentially, these drugs mimic a naturally occurring hormone that regulates blood sugar, slows digestion and signals fullness to the brain, erasing hunger long before that “personal” pizza is finished.

The result is not just weight loss, but also a reset of appetite itself. GLP-1 medications normalize smaller appetites — and restaurants are starting to respond.

“Before, if you didn’t have these gargantuan portions [on your menu], you were frowned upon,” said Brent Berkowitz, COO of Denver-based Olive & Finch restaurants. “The trend is flipping around. Now it’s about quality and flavor over quantity.”

At Olive & Finch, that looks like adding smaller, protein-dense plates to the menu and shedding some of those empty calories. Protein is a key part to all of this, the VIP on the plate to make sure weight comes off without taking all your muscles with it.

“It’s monstrous, the emphasis on protein,” Berkowitz said. “I’ve been on GLPs. You don’t feel like eating. Eating becomes a chore, not something you enjoy. You might have had 30 bites before, now you have 13 bites. So it’s got to entice you.”

Nationally, the GLP-1 era has made its way to the corporate test kitchen, with many chains getting in on the small-portion, high-protein action. Olive Garden added a “lighter portion” section to its menu in December 2025. Subway introduced $3.99 Protein Pockets in January, and Shake Shack is channeling the Atkins days with bun-less burgers on its “Good Fit” menu.

While most restaurants have been discreet about naming GLP-1s directly, Smoothie King wasn’t shy about calling its menu what it is. They created a dedicated GLP-1 Support Menu back in 2024, full of high-protein, no-added-sugar smoothies designed specifically for Ozempic users.

Carrie Baird, partner and culinary director of Culinary Creative Group, gave a playful nod to weight-loss drugs on her most recent menu at Tap & Burger. (Photo by Colleen O’Toole for Fox and the Hen)

Carrie Baird, partner and culinary director of Culinary Creative Group, which runs restaurants like Tap & Burger, Mister Oso, Bar Dough and Fox and the Hen, gave a playful nod to the drugs on her most recent menu at Tap & Burger. The smaller-portion, higher-protein burgers are under a new section called Green Lean Protein. (GLP – get it?)

“I think the demand is there,” Baird said. “For me, writing menus, I want to make sure I’m making these things available to people who want to eat like that. I want to give them the options.”

Her next goal is to create sugar-free mocktails for her restaurants, as GLP-1s can make alcohol less appealing. So while the sober movement had already been picking up steam over the past decade, these meds might just give it a little extra fizz going forward.

Even after learning more about these drugs, their history and their implications, I’ll admit that my ignorance and stereotyping about who, exactly, is taking them persisted. (I blame ‘The Real Housewives.’) I asked Berkowitz — who has Olive & Finch locations in Cherry Creek, Uptown, Union Station and the Denver Performing Arts Complex, as well as Little Finch on 16th Street — if geography played a role in demand. Would Cherry Creekers, I hypothesized, be more likely to need an Ozempic-friendly menu because of their reputation for being, well, maybe a little more Housewife-y?

Berkowitz emphasized that demand for this type of eating is showing up at all of their locations, but it is strongest at the Cherry Creek and Arts Complex restaurants. Still, even in neighborhoods where image isn’t everything, the appetite shift is real.

These drugs may not have been designed to change how we eat, but here we are. Protein added to anything and everything, smoothies designed to play nice with your prescriptions and restaurants measuring portions by appetite, not tradition. Maybe GLP-1s have done what no menu ever could: They’re convincing insatiable Americans that less is more.

Allyson Reedy is a Denver-area freelance writer, cookbook author and novelist. She is also a former Denver Post food writer.

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Denver, CO

Denver area events for Feb. 11

Published

23 hours ago

February 11, 2026

Press Room

If you have an event taking place in the Denver area, email information to carlotta.olson@gazette.com at least two weeks in advance. All events are listed in the calendar on space availability. Wednesday Downtown Denver Food Tour — 1-4 p.m., Denver, $63.60 and up. Registration required: deliciousdenverfoodtours.com. Mile High Soul Collective — 6:30 p.m., Dazzle at Baur’s, 1080 […]

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