The Nuggets head into Saturday’s Mexico City matchup in a much better place than they were to start the season, and the injury report gives them another boost.
Denver has won three of its last four, and it could have one of its cleanest availability lists yet when it meets the Pacers. The biggest update is Spencer Jones, who has been removed from the injury report and is set to make his season debut. DeMar DeRozan has also been upgraded after being a last-minute scratch in the previous game, leaving Julian Strawther as the only expected absence for Denver.
That’s a meaningful step forward for a team that hasn’t been at full strength through its first seven games. The Nuggets are still waiting to get all the way there, but Saturday’s group should look a lot closer to complete than it has so far.
Jones’ return matters for more than just depth. Denver has missed his defense and outside shooting, and his availability creates a rotation squeeze.
Second-round rookie Trevon Brazile has handled the minutes in Jones’ absence and has been impressive enough to make this a real coaching decision. David Adelman has already made it clear he wants to keep the rotation trimmed to nine or ten players, and that becomes trickier if DeRozan is also available.
That leaves the Nuggets with about 12 players who have made a case for minutes, which makes Saturday a useful test for Adelman and his staff.
The opponent also gives Denver a chance to keep building. Indiana has dropped five of its last six, and the Pacers are already without All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton because of a hamstring strain. Their injury report also lists TJ McConnell as questionable with a right hamstring strain and Kelly Oubre Jr. as questionable with a left calf contusion.
Even with those issues, the Pacers still have pieces to work with, including All-Star forward Pascal Siakam and guard Andrew Nembhard, who will be facing his brother Ryan on Saturday. Denver can’t treat this like a free pass, but the matchup does look favorable.
The game is scheduled to tip at 3:00 p.m. MT in Mexico City on Saturday.
In Other News...
Tyrese Haliburtons Latest Injury Absence Leaves Pacers Waiting Again
Tyrese Haliburton is staying in Indianapolis for treatment of a left hamstring strain and will not travel with the Pacers to Mexico City, another reminder of how carefully Indiana has had to manage its point guard early in the season. Rick Carlisle said Haliburton is going through treatment that includes time in a hyperbaric chamber, and the coach added that the star guard is in good spirits as the team hopes to get him back soon.
For a Pacers group trying to keep its rhythm while juggling injuries, Haliburtons absence changes everything from pace to late-game organization. Indiana has had to keep moving without him while also monitoring the rest of the roster, and the latest update only adds to the sense that the team is still waiting for its full identity to come together. [Read more 🡒]
Pacers Just Weighed In On A Growing NBA Expansion Debate
The NBAs expansion conversation keeps getting louder, and Rick Carlisle added a little more fuel to it this week. The Pacers coach said a team in Mexico City is certainly possible as the league continues sorting through where and when it might grow next, with commissioner Adam Silver saying expansion is still a few seasons away and that Las Vegas and Seattle remain the most active candidates.
Mexico City is hardly a blind spot for the league, either. The NBA has already staged games at Arena CDMX, where the G Leagues Mexico City Capitanes play, and the idea of a full-time franchise there has long carried real traction around the league. Carlisles comments fit into a broader debate that now includes player reaction as well, even if the final shape of expansion is still very much up in the air. [Read more 🡒]
Rick Carlisle Sees Something Bigger In This Pacers Showcase
Rick Carlisle has been around long enough to see the league change in just about every way, and now the Pacers coach is adding another milestone to a rsum that already puts him in rare company. In his 25th season as an NBA head coach, Carlisle recently reached 1,000 career wins, becoming just the 11th coach in league history to do it, a reminder of how much basketball he has seen while moving from one organization to the next.
Now comes a different kind of stage for Indiana, which is set to play its first game in Mexico against the Denver Nuggets. Carlisle has been reflective about the path that brought him here, praising the organizations and players he has worked with along the way, but he also sounds energized by what this Pacers group is building. For a team still shaping its identity, an international showcase offers more than a novelty trip. It is another chance to see how far that identity can travel. [Read more 🡒]