The ultimate goal every season is winning the Larry O’Brien Trophy, but winning the NBA Cup matters, too.
When the Denver Nuggets host the San Antonio Spurs on Friday night, the winner will capture West Group C and advance to the Cup quarterfinals while the loser will be eliminated from the tournament.
Although it’s not for a NBA title, getting a win in the regular-season standings and staying alive for the Cup are motivating factors.
“Every game is important, but the Cup is something else,” San Antonio rookie Dylan Harper said. “We’re trying to get to Vegas.”
Harper returned to the Spurs’ lineup on Wednesday in a 115-102 win at Portland that kept San Antonio alive in the NBA Cup and eliminated the Trail Blazers. The second overall pick in this year’s draft had seven points, three rebounds and two assists in his first game since Nov. 2. Harper had missed 10 games with a calf injury.
“I thought he was great,” San Antonio coach Mitch Johnson said. “We needed all 16 1/2 minutes of his. It is just good to see him back on the court. It is the kid’s (seventh) game. He has been out for almost a month. He was great.”
Harper is averaging 13 points a game, fifth on the team in scoring. Victor Wembanyama leads the Spurs at 26.2 points and is first in the NBA in rebounds (12.9) and blocks (3.6) but is sidelined for at least another week with a calf injury. De’Aaron Fox is second on the team at 25 points per game and Stephon Castle is third at 17.3 ppg.
Wembanyama’s absence could be felt against Denver, which has not played since earning a 125-115 road win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday. Nikola Jokic continues to make a case for his fourth MVP with averages of 29.6 points, 12.8 rebounds and 11.1 assists, all of which lead the Nuggets.
He is fifth in the NBA in scoring, second in rebounding and first in assists.
Denver continues to play without two starters — guard Christian Braun (ankle) and forward Aaron Gordon (hamstring) — and will not have either available in the near future. That has made the offseason moves to add depth even more important, and the reserves are making a difference.
Peyton Watson has moved into the starting lineup with Braun sidelined and is averaging 20.8 points over the past four games, which has helped make up for the absence of Gordon’s 18.8 points a game. Gordon is third on the team in scoring, and Jamal Murray is second at a career-high 23.2 points a game.
The Nuggets have started Spencer Jones at forward to keep continuity in their bench rotation. Tim Hardaway Jr., at 11.1 points a game, leads the reserves in scoring, while Bruce Brown and Jonas Valanciunas have been valuable in spelling Murray and Jokic, respectively.
“That bench unit, it’s a lot of weapons, a lot of guys who care, who know how to play those minutes, who know what their role is,” Jokic told the Denver Post. “… They give us calmness.”
