The Denver Nuggets, and every other team in the NBA, are in the thick of the stretch run. For the Nuggets that means trying to secure the two seed in the West. For their opponents, the Phoenix Suns, that means hanging on by a thread just hoping at a chance for the play-in. Phoenix has taken over as the most disappointing team in the NBA this season. A roster loaded with “superstars,” all its really been is a roster loaded with a bloated payroll and poor team chemistry. Kevin Durant looks to be on his way out and Bradley Beal might be the worst contract in the entire NBA. All of this happens while Devin Booker is in his prime. To say Phoenix is a mess right now would be a massive understatement.

The Essentials

Who: Denver Nuggets (40-22) vs Phoenix Suns (29-33)

When: 7PM MST

Where: The Can. Denver, CO

How to watch/listen: Due to popular demand, we are reiterating that we do not support piracy…except the romanticized 17th century type. Altitude TV, Altitude+, ESPN, Altitude Radio 92.5FM. Show up in a tweed blazer with thick glasses and a corn cob pipe and tell security you are the Suns newest team therapist.

Rival blog: Bright Side of the Sun

The Matchup

Injury report: Zeke Nnaji – probable (ankle), Nikola Jokic – questionable (ankle), Aaron Gordon – questionable (ankle), Julian Strawther – out (knee), DaRon Holmes II – out (achilles), PJ Hall – out (G-League); Bradley Beal – questionable (calf), Monte Morris – out (back), Cody Martin – out (hernia), Jalen Bridges – out (G-League).

The Three Things

The thing to watch for: Bench Scoring

The Nuggets have dealt with nagging injuries all season and seem to always be missing at least one piece of their rotation. Right now that person is their best shooter off the bench, Julian Strawther, who is out for at least a month. Compounding that issue is Aaron Gordon’s latest lower body injury, a left ankle sprain, which kept him out of Denver’s last couple games. When AG is out, Michael Malone has inserted Russell Westbrook into the starting lineup lately. Westbrook is the best scorer on Denver’s bench when they are fully healthy. With him starting and Strawther sitting it leaves the Nuggets with a bench of Jalen Pickett, Peyton Watson, Zeke Nnaji and a 4th situational player who is not a scorer. Against the Sacramento Kings it was Nnaji providing points off the bench but it would be foolish to expect any of these guys to give you consistent offensive production. Malone is going to have to coach his ass off in the bench minutes with getting the right lineup combinations and getting those combinations into good sets to create easy buckets.

The thing to remember: Phoenix ain’t quite out of it yet

It’s easy to look at the Suns, say they are done and chalk this game up as a win. Listen, things aren’t going well and no one is denying that but this team is still extremely talented. They also definitely have not given up. Look no further than the Suns last game when they played the Los Angeles Clippers and rallied back from twenty-three points down in the second half to secure a victory. They also remain just two games back in the loss column from the final play-in spot. Who knows what happens if they get-in. Thanks to the Durant trade, Phoenix has no 1st round pick this year so there’s no motivation for tanking at any level of the organization and everyone should be all in on getting a chance at a title run no matter how improbable it is. Denver has to approach this game like they are playing a very talented team who is more desperate than anyone.

The thing to bet: Jamal Murray over 23.5 points (+100)

Not exactly sure who Phoenix is planning on defending Murray with. They’ll likely rotate Grayson Allen or Royce O’neal onto him when those guys check in but Phoenix’s current starting unit is bereft of guard defenders (plus, Allen & O’Neal are solid but not lockdown defenders). Murray put up thirty points on Phoenix a month ago and has topped 23 points in two of the three contests this season. At even money I like this bet quite a bit.