The Brooklyn Nets are coming off an impressive win over the Milwaukee Bucks but will be missing some key players when they host the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday night.
Ben Simmons has been ruled out due to lower-back injury management while Bojan Bogdanovic (left foot injury recovery), Trendon Watford (left hamstring strain) and Day’Ron Sharpe (left hamstring strain) won’t play.
That will leave Brooklyn thin in its rotation as it tries to put together back-to-back wins after dropping its first two games of the season.
The Nets will have Cam Thomas and Dennis Schroder available. The two combined for 61 points against the Bucks on Sunday, more than half of what the team scored in a 115-102 win.
Schroder was brought to Brooklyn to supplement Simmons, who has battled injuries throughout his career. Schroder is averaging 20.7 points and 6.3 assists per game this season and has served as a veteran presence for the Nets.
“He’s done it on a winning team, he’s done it in international basketball, and he’s done it here again,” coach Jordi Fernandez said after the win over Milwaukee. “So, toughness, leadership, coach on the floor, everything.”
Schroder is on an expiring contract and knows his time with the Nets could be short.
“It’s a business, and whenever a decision is made, I just go with it and always remind myself that it’s the best league in the world,” Schroder said. “So, it don’t matter where. Even if I get traded, I always got to see the positive side of it. But I want to stay here.”
Brooklyn will face a tired but relieved Denver team, which is coming off its first win of the season on Monday night, over the Toronto Raptors. The Nuggets lost their first two games at home and were down by 10 at Toronto with 2:12 left in regulation. They rallied to send it overtime and survived a 64-foot heave by the Raptors’ Davion Mitchell to win 127-125.
“This is an opportunity to show ourselves that even if you don’t play well, you can still win games,” Denver’s Nikola Jokic, who had 40 points, said after the victory. “That’s what good teams do — they win games when they don’t play good. Hopefully we can learn and this can be a showcase of what we can do.”
It helps having the reigning MVP in Jokic on the court. He has back-to-back games of at least 40 points, and Denver needed every one of his points Monday night to avoid starting the season 0-3 for the first time in Jokic’s career.
“Starting 0-2 is tough, especially at home, and hopefully we can win two on the road,” Jokic said.
The Nuggets were forced to play their starters heavy minutes to rally from 15 points down. Jokic logged 44 of the 53 minutes while Aaron Gordon played 42.
Denver might have to lean on its bench against the Nets, but so far that unit has struggled. Russell Westbrook is just 5-for-25 shooting in the first three games in his 17th NBA season, his first with Denver.