San Antonio Spurs vs. Nuggets: How to watch, injuries, pregame notes

The San Antonio Spurs face the Denver Nuggets this afternoon at 3 pm CST

After a disappointing last-minute loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday night, the San Antonio Spurs are coming into this afternoons game with a chip on their shoulders. They’re one of the surprise teams of the bubble and this matchup with the Denver Nuggets offers a great chance for them to move to 3-1.

The Nuggets won the only other matchup between the two teams, handing San Antonio a 127-120 loss in early February. But a lot has changed since then.

First and foremost, the San Antonio Spurs will be without their leading scorer from that game, LaMarcus Aldridge, and will instead be relying on their four free-flowing perimeter players to carry them to victory. With DeMar DeRozan sitting out, Dejounte Murray had one of his better games of the season in the first matchup with Denver, putting up an impressive line of 14 points, 9 assists, and 6 rebounds.

The player to watch for San Antonio has to be Derrick White. He’s been scorching hot from behind the arc so far and has probably been the Spurs best player through three games. He had a breakout series against Denver in the first round of the playoffs in 2019, let’s hope for a repeat performance tonight.

Defensively, San Antonio will have to focus on slowing down Nikola Jokic and finding ways to guard Denver’s potentially giant lineups. They’re one of the tallest teams which could be an issue for a Spurs team that’s been trending towards the small side through their first couple of games in Orlando. This could be a great opportunity to push Keldon Johnson‘s limits on the defensive end and see how he fares against larger players like Paul Millsap and Michael Porter Jr.

Injury Report and how to watch the San Antonio Spurs this afternoon

San Antonio Spurs Injuries

LaMarcus Aldridge – OUT

Trey Lyles – OUT

Bryn Forbes – OUT

Marco Belinelli – Probable

Denver Nuggets Injuries

Will Barton – OUT

Gary Harris – OUT

Jamal Murray – Questionable

Vlatko Čančar – OUT

How to Watch

Location: Visa Athletic Center – Orlando, FLDate/Time: Wednesday, Aug. 5 @ 4 PM ETNational TV: NoneLocal TV: Fox Sports Southwest, ALT