One team is guaranteed to end a three-game losing streak on Monday when the defending champion Denver Nuggets make their only trip of the season to play the Atlanta Hawks.
The Nuggets have dropped three in a row following Friday’s 114-106 loss to Houston. The Hawks are on a three-game slide and have lost five of their past six after Friday’s 125-114 loss to Philadelphia.
Atlanta and Denver split their two games last season, with each prevailing on their home court. Atlanta’s win came without Trae Young, who missed the contest with a sore right shoulder. Denver’s win was marked by a 41-point performance from Jamal Murray.
Young was not in the lineup against the 76ers because of an illness but is expected to play Monday. He was well enough to make an appearance at the Hawks’ Naismith Classic, a local high school tournament, on Saturday and take a few shots at halftime.
The Hawks have also been without emerging forward Jalen Johnson (averages of 14.1 points and 7.3 rebounds), who has missed the past six games with a left wrist fracture.
Young leads the team with 27.2 points and 10.6 assists per game. Dejounte Murray is averaging 20 points, 5.5 assists and 4.4 rebounds per game.
Snyder was pleased with the performance of some of the less-frequently used players such as Garrison Mathews, Trent Forrest and veteran Patty Mills against the Sixers.
Denver’s Nikola Jokic has struggled lately with his shooting and has made only 18 of 58 over the past two games. On Friday he was 9-for-26 from the field and finished with 23 points and 16 rebounds.
Jokic is shooting 53.5 percent from the floor and 30.4 percent on 3-pointers for the season. Jokic is averaging 28.4 points, 13 rebounds and 9.6 assists. In 16 career games against Atlanta, Jokic is averaging 18.1 points, 10.9 rebounds and 6.3 assists.
Murray returned to the lineup after missing 11 straight games with a right hamstring strain; he then suffered a right ankle sprain that kept him out for two additional games. He has played the past two games and topped 20 points both times. He was ejected late in Friday’s game after arguing that he had been hacked.
Murray is listed as probable for Monday’s contest.
