Denver, CO
Preview: Denver Nuggets head to Salt Lake City to take on Utah Jazz
The Denver Nuggets are looking to exercise a demon in Salt Lake City against the Utah Jazz on Tuesday night. They have not won in Utah since 2020, and that victory is their only victory in Utah since 2015. The Nuggets will have perhaps their best opportunity yet to turn the tides in Utah as they get a Jazz team tonight that is devastated by injuries and desperately just trying to get to the finish line of the season. Their entire starting five from the beginning of the season is out save for Talen Horton Tucker and he’s in full DNP-CD mode at this point. To make matters worse, Utah has lost twelve games in a row. Denver has a great chance to finally get a win in their personal house of horrors and stay in the driver’s seat for the number one overall seed.
The Essentials
Who: Denver Nuggets (54-24) at Utah Jazz (29-49)
When: 7:00PM MDT
Where: We swear there’s only the good Boeing planes in our fleet Arena, UT.
How to watch/listen: Denver Stiffs does not condone piracy….unless it’s the romanticized 18th century type. Altitude TV where available (Altitude TV is available on DirecTV, DirecTV stream and Fubo TV). NBA League pass for those not in the Nuggets market. Altitude Radio 92.5. Bring any loading dock worker a case of any beer that has a higher ABV than 5% and they are sure to look the other way.
Rival blog: SLC Dunk
The Matchup
Position | Nuggets | Jazz | Advantage |
PG | Jamal Murray | Collin Sexton | Nuggets |
SG | Kentavious Caldwell-Pope | Keyonte George | Nuggets |
SF | Christian Braun | Brice Sensabaugh | Nuggets |
PF | Michael Porter Jr. | Taylor Hendricks | Nuggets |
C | Nikola Jokic | Omer Yurtseven | Nuggets |
Bench | Reggie Jackson, Peyton Watson, Justin Holiday, Zeke Nnaji, Julian Strawther | Darius Bazley, Micah Potter, Kira Lewis Jr., Johnny Juzang, Luka Samanic | Nuggets |
Injury Report: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope – probable (shoulder), Nikola Jokic – probable (hip), Jamal Murray – probable (knee), Michael Porter Jr. – probable (knee), Julian Strawther – probable (ankle), Aaron Gordon – questionable (foot), Vlatko Cancar – out (knee); Jordan Clarkson – out (groin), John Collins – out (back), Kris Dunn – out (foot), Walker Kessler – out (nose), Lauri Markkanen – out (shoulder).
The Three Things
The thing to watch for: The Nuggets vs some rando
The last time these two teams met Utah’s roster was depleted as well and the Nuggets got caught sleeping on Keyonte George and he ended up pouring in twenty-nine points. Johnny Juzang is coming off a twenty-seven point performance against the Golden State Warriors. Just because the Nuggets are headed towards the playoffs and the Jazz are playing a bunch of backups a week away from vacation doesn’t mean this one will come easy. After the lost season Utah has had there will be nothing sweeter than ending their losing streak against the defending champs. That’s essentially the biggest thing left for the Jazz to play for at this point.
The thing to remember: The one time Denver won in Utah it was against incredible odds
The Magnificent Seven #MileHighBasketball
(photo from @nuggets) pic.twitter.com/4ougwJCNGp
— Denver Stiffs (@denverstiffs) February 6, 2020
Denver’s lone win in Salt Lake City in nearly a decade is also one of the most impressive wins of the Michael Malone/Nikola Jokic/Jamal Murray era. The team rostered just seven players that night while facing a 32-17 Jazz team that was fully healthy with Rudy Gobert, Donovan Mitchell, Mike Conley, Bojan Bogdanovic and Joe Ingles starting in a game known affectionately to Nuggets fans as the “Magnificent 7” game. The Nuggets ratcheted up their defense to the max, got a 30-20-10 triple double from Jokic and a thirty-one point scoring effort from Murray on their way to a 98-95 win. It’s a special moment in Nuggets lore and also proof that Denver can’t sleep on this Utah team tonight as any team on the floor has the capability of coming up with a huge upset.
The thing to bet: Michael Porter Jr. over 6.5 rebounds (-110)
Aaron Gordon is questionable for the game and if he can’t go then the likely move from Malone is to slide MPJ to the 4 spot and put Christian Braun at the three which in theory will leave Mike more opportunities to rebound. I say in theory because he had just three boards against the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday in the same situation. However, Mike usually bounces back strong from poor rebounding efforts so given the opportunity and the motivation I like the over here.
Denver, CO
‘I’m good.’ Bengals’ Amarius Mims says he’ll play vs. Denver Broncos after ankle injury
Amarius Mims thinks he’ll be ready for the biggest game of the Cincinnati Bengals’ season.
In Sunday’s win over the Cleveland Browns, Mims, an offensive tackle, was hampered by an ankle injury. He was in and out of the game as he battled the injury.
With a make-or-break home game against the Denver Broncos coming Saturday, Mims told The Enquirer’s Kelsey Conway he anticipated playing in the game.
“No, I’m good,” Mims told The Enquirer in the Bengals’ locker room post-game.
Absent Mims, the Bengals would be thin at tackle. That would make for less than ideal circumstances for quarterback Joe Burrow in a game of real significance.
After dropping to 4-8 on Dec. 1, the Bengals have played their way back to 7-8 and are attempting to overtake several teams including the Broncos for the final AFC Wild Card spot.
Saturday’s game against Denver is scheduled for a 4:30 p.m. kickoff and will be broadcast on NFL Network.
Denver, CO
Suns lookahead: Phoenix looks to end Christmas skid in holiday matchup vs. Denver Nuggets
Phoenix Suns coming off back-to-back wins
The Phoenix Suns won their last two games despite missing injured guard Bradley Beal. What’s next for the team?
The Phoenix Suns will play in their fourth consecutive Christmas Day game Wednesday against the Denver Nuggets at Footprint Center.
The week begins with a Monday game at Denver and finishes with a back-to-back set: Friday’s home game against the Dallas Mavericks and Saturday’s matchup at Golden State.
It’s nice to play on the most celebrated holiday of the year, especially at home.
Family and loved ones in town. Everyone watching on national television.
A festive time for celebrating and gift-giving, but the Grinch keeps showing up and ruining Christmas for the Suns.
Phoenix is 1-7 in its past eight Christmas games, losing the past three to the Golden State Warriors, 116-107, in 2021; at the Denver Nuggets, 128-125 in overtime, in 2022; and against Dallas, 128-114, last year.
What’s even crazier is the Suns lost to teams that either won an NBA championship or reached the finals that season.
The Warriors won it all in the 2021-22 season, the Nuggets took it in 2022-23 and the Mavericks advanced to the finals before losing to the 2023-24 NBA champion Boston Celtics.
The Suns last won on Christmas in 2009, beating the Los Angeles Clippers, 124-93, at home. Phoenix went more than 10 seasons without playing on the holiday until the 2021-22 season, the year after it reached the 2021 finals.
Phoenix is 12-9 overall on Christmas.
Christmas 2021: Curry leads Warriors past Suns
The Suns played the centerpiece Christmas game in 2021 against the Warriors during their historic 64-win season. They entered the marquee matchup with a 26-5 record and on a five-game winning streak, but lost at home.
Phoenix bolstered the best home record that season at 32-9 with one of those rare losses coming on Christmas. The Suns didn’t score in the final three minutes while Otto Porter Jr. scored the game’s final seven points.
Stephen Curry punched out a game-high 33 points to go with six assists to just one turnover while Chris Paul led the Suns with 21 points and eight assists to two turnovers and six rebounds.
Devin Booker managed just 13 points on 5-of-19 shooting.
Christmas 2022: Booker injured early, Suns fall in OT
In 2022, the Suns lost Booker within the first five minutes of their Christmas loss to the Nuggets at Ball Arena in Denver as he aggravated a groin injury. Scoring just two points, he had missed the previous three games.
Landry Shamet came off the bench to deliver 31 points to match a career-high, and Nikola Jokic posted another insane triple-double of 41 points, 15 rebounds and 15 assists, but the game will forever be remembered for Aaron Gordon’s ferocious one-handed dunk in overtime over Shamet, who tried to take the charge on the play.
Gordon was first called for an offensive foul, but after review, the call was overturned because Shamet was ruled outside of the restricted area.
Gordon missed the ensuing free throw, but his dunk gave Denver a 126-123 lead with 24 seconds left.
Christmas 2023: Doncic 50-piece dooms Suns
Then last season, Luka Doncic cooked the Suns for 50 points in leading Dallas to victory at Footprint Center. Shooting 8-of-16 from 3, Doncic became the seventh-fastest to reach 10,000 career points.
Grayson Allen scored a team-high 32 points to lead the Suns, going 8-of-17 from 3 while Kevin Durant and Booker combined for just 36 points on 10-of-25 shooting.
The Suns were without Bradley Beal (right ankle sprain) and Jusuf Nurkic (personal reasons) while the Mavericks won despite Kyrie Irving being sidelined due to a heel injury.
The Suns now have another chance to win on Christmas.
Have opinions about the current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-810-5518. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.
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Denver, CO
Esther Romero
Esther Romero
OBITUARY
Esther Romero (Lopez), 84, entered into eternal rest surrounded by her loving family. Born in Mt. Harris, Colorado, a small coal mining town near Steamboat Springs, her family moved to Denver in 1950. She graduated from North High School in 1957 and was the first in her family to attend college. She left for Colorado State College now UNC in 1958 where she soon met the love of her life and future husband Richard Romero. Esther graduated in 1961, married a week later, and together moved to Castle Rock where she began her career as an educator. Before long they returned to Denver where their three daughters were born. In 1972, Esther became one of Denver Public Schools first bilingual bicultural teachers and soon earned her Masters Degree from UNC. A passionate advocate, she understood the value of building a strong educational foundation in a child’s home language and honoring culture while also learning English. She taught at Elmwood, Del Pueblo, and Fairmont elementaries. A founding member of the Congress of Hispanic Educators (CHE), Esther served as president for many years helping to ensure children in DPS had access to a quality bilingual education. She continued this work through her final days. Esther taught for 30 years, was recognized as a master teacher of children, an exceptional mentor and coach to future educators, and served as a liaison between CU-Denver and DPS. She was a member of Delta Kappa Gamma.
Esther enjoyed traveling with family and friends to Mexico, Europe, South America, the Caribbean, and almost all fifty states. She and Richard were avid Broncos fans holding season tickets since 1970, traveling to two Super Bowls. She loved organizing family gatherings, gambling trips, camping, reading, puzzles, and playing games with family. She had the unique ability to make everyone feel seen, heard, valued, and loved.
She was preceded in death by her parents Luis and Tommie G. Lopez, devoted husband Richard Romero, brother Baltazar Lopez ( Lourdes) and survived by her loving daughters Rosana (Dean) Trujillo, Carla (Arturo) Perez, Diana (John) Romero Campbell, and her grandchildren Arturito, Juliana, Claudia, Sofia, Orlando, Geronimo and Alicia, her sister Alice (Joe) Marquez, brothers Louie (Pat dec.) Lopez, Davey (Pat dec.) Lopez, Robert (Shari) Lopez, Ray (Melva) Lopez, and numerous extended family members. Please see www.cfcscolorado.org for service details.
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