Denver Nuggets hoping to ‘peak at right time’ in NBA with Toronto Raptors up next

DENVER – The Denver Nuggets suffered a tough National Basketball Association (NBA) loss at the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday night, but they don’t have time to dwell on it with the Toronto Raptors in town on Friday (Saturday morning, Singapore time).

Denver (42-28) fell 125-118 to the lottery-bound Grizzlies in a makeup game that was postponed on Jan. 25. The loss dropped the Nuggets to sixth in the Western Conference with 12 games left in their regular season.

They feel like they’re playing well despite a 7-8 record since the All-Star break. Denver has suffered close losses – two in overtime and two others by three points or fewer – and it has not won more than two in a row since mid-January.

“We’ve been in some weird ones throughout, where it’s like, we wish we would have closed it,” said Cam Johnson, who is averaging 17.6 points over the last five games.

“And right now, it’s one of those situations where if we had closed some of those, we would be in a little bit better of a position. But it’s a building process. You just want to peak at the right time in this league.”

Injuries have played a part in the struggles but with the return of Peyton Watson from a strained hamstring imminent, the Nuggets will have their full rotation available for the first time since the beginning of the season.

Toronto (39-29) comes to town on a three-game winning streak. The Raptors are fifth in the Eastern Conference and will have to navigate this current five- game road trip to maintain or improve their seed.

“The past three games have been a very good turning point for us,” RJ Barrett said after scoring 23 points in a 139-109 win at the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday night.

“We had a little lull there, trying to figure things out and we’ve figured it out. We’ve seen what we need to do and we’ve done it for the past three games. So now, we just have to try to do that consistently.”

Meanwhile in the highlight of NBA action on Thursday, LeBron James tied the record for most regular-season games played in style with a triple-double in the Los Angeles Lakers’ win at the Miami Heat.

James took to the court for his 1,611th regular-season game, equaling Hall of Famer Robert Parish’s record that had stood since 1997.

“Availability, I’ve always wanted to be available to my teammates,” James said.

“It’s a mental toll, trying to play a lot and being out there... I just give a lot of praise to the man above and (it’s about) just loving the game and appreciating the game.”

The 41-year-old notched the 124th triple-double of his career with 19 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists, helping the Lakers beat the Heat 134-126 for an eighth straight victory. REUTERS, AFP