Sad News: Nuggets suffers another setback with injuries.
Opening bell: The Nuggets (51-22) are a half-game ahead of the Wolves (50-22) and the Thunder in the battle for the top seed in the Western Conference, so the head-to-head meeting will give the Wolves a chance to be kings for a day again.
Watch him: Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (26.1 points, 12.2 rebounds, nine assists per game) is likely to win his third MVP award after leading Denver to the NBA championship in 2023. NBA.com reports Jokic will be the second player in league history to average at least 25/12/8 since Oscar Robertson in 1962. Jokic leads the league in touches and his team has 19.7 points per 100 possessions with him on the floor.
Injuries: For the Wolves, Karl-Anthony Towns (knee) is out, and Anthony Edwards (back) and Rudy Gobert (ribs) are questionable. For the Nuggets, Jamal MurNBA.com reports Jokic will be the second player in league history to average at least 25/12/8 since Oscar Robertson in 1962 Jamal Murray (ankle) is questionable and Jokic (hip/back) is probable.
Forecast: There should be a lot of intensity in this game; the teams meet only once more this season (April 10 in Denver) and there is a lot at stake. As always, it likely comes down to a team’s ability to limit Jokic’s effectiveness, but Denver has other weapons and should be the slight favorite in this game at home.
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Nuggets’ Michael Porter Jr. breaks his silence on brother Jontay Porter’s gambling investigation.
On Monday, news broke that the NBA was launching an investigation into Toronto Raptors forward Jontay Porter, younger brother of Denver Nuggets star Michael Porter Jr., for gambling issues. The NBA discovered multiple instances of betting irregularities over the past few months, involving prop bets on Porter from games on January 26th and March 20th.
Any players, teams, or league employees are not allowed to bet on NBA games. In fact, each NBA team has personnel to monitor sports betting and the league has many data scientists that focus on sports betting anomalies.
Since the news of this investigation broke, Jontay Porter has yet to make a public statement. He has also missed the past couple of Raptors games with the team citing he was out for personal reasons.
Michael Porter Jr. chose to not speak with the media the night the news broke. Following the Nuggets loss to the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday, the elder Porter did make himself available to the media.
After discussing the outcome of the game, Porter Jr. didn’t have much to say regarding his brother. However, he did say that he doubts his brother would put his career in jeopardy.
“I know just as much as you guys know at this point,” said Porter Jr. “I’ve known my brother my whole life. I know what type of dude he is. He’s excited to play basketball and I highly doubt he’d do anything to put that in jeopardy.”
In the past few years, the world of sports betting has grown astronomically. There are countless advertisements run both in the stadiums and airing during games. Despite this, players are still banned from betting on the NBA.
With the sheer amount of sports betting advertising going on during their games, the Nuggets star was also asked if it’s difficult for players to not get involved.
“It’s part of the game now,” Porter Jr. continued. “I think that it’s obviously a dangerous habit. The love of money is the root of all evil. I think that even though it is a thing, we as players just have to accept that. We get paid a lot of money to play this game. I know that these fans, they want to make some money as well. So if they want to put their hard earnings on us, we appreciate that you put your trust in us I guess. It is definitely something that has taken over the sports world. I don’t know if it’s a good thing or bad thing.”
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