Denver Gazette beat writer Vinny Benedetto takes you around the NBA and inside the Nuggets locker room:

NBA Insider

A four-game road trip against top-six teams in the Eastern Conference will show who exactly the Denver Nuggets are heading into the final quarter of the season.

The Lakers emphatically ended Denver’s nine-game win streak Saturday. The way Nikola Jokic sees it, that streak might not have had much meaning, even though it matched the longest win streak of his NBA career.

“We had the nine-game winning streak against teams that were injured, and those teams are not really good or high in the standings,” Jokic said after Saturday’s game. “Maybe we tricked ourselves that we are playing good. … Hopefully, we can change something on this road trip.”

Denver started the trip with a win Monday in Indianapolis against the Indiana Pacers. The trip concludes with Thursday’s game in Milwaukee vs. the Bucks, the second leg of a back-to-back Friday in Detroit and a matchup of the last two champions Sunday morning in Boston.

“Very challenging four-game road trip,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said after his team’s loss to the Lakers.

“No one is going to be scared that the Denver Nuggets are coming to town. We have to play a lot better than we did tonight.”

Malone stressed the importance of his team playing with effort, intensity and physicality even when the offense isn’t humming. Denver entered Monday’s game with the league’s second-ranked offensive rating. Only Cleveland, sitting atop the East, has a better offensive rating (122) than Denver’s 119.4. The trip east provides an opportunity for the Nuggets to flex that muscle ahead of the playoffs.

“It will be great. It will be great preparation. We’re going to go out and look to win every game and play a way that we know will get us wins come April, May and June,” Aaron Gordon said Saturday.

“I believe we’ve got to turn it up. The dust settles toward the last few games of the season. You can revisit that, but I think next stretch, we’ve got to turn up.”

What I’m Thinking

The cost for JJ Redick leading the Lakers to a win in Denver on Saturday night could come with a significant cost come the postseason.

Redick’s plan to deny Nikola Jokic the ball as best he could worked for a regular-season game in February. The seven shots Jokic took matched his season low. The other time he attempted that few shots came in a 19-point win over Dallas when Jokic played 29 minutes. Jokic played 35 on Saturday in a losing effort. Oddly enough, Jokic recorded triple-doubles in both games.

The risk Redick took was showing that strategy too early. Jokic has a way of solving opposing strategies pretty quickly. And the Nuggets will see the Lakers a couple of more times this regular season before a potential playoff matchup.

If the first-year coach doesn’t have a few more tricks up his sleeve, he may have given Jokic and the Nuggets a strategic advantage moving forward. If Redick has even more solutions for his team’s Jokic problem, he’s going to be coaching the Lakers for a long, long time.

What They’re Saying

The Lakers coach discussed the strategy that seemed to surprise Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets on Saturday night.

“He leads the NBA in touches. He’s going to touch the ball. We tried to limit his touches as much as possible,” Redick said of Jokic. “I thought Rui (Hachimura) was outstanding. He was a warrior tonight – a warrior. All the guys that had primary turns on him — LeBron (James) at one point, (Jarred Vanderbilt) for sure setting the tone with his physicality, (Dorian Finney-Smith) as well and then anytime a small got switched onto him, we just stuck with what we were trying to do and had to live with some things, but that’s what we were willing to live with.”

Denver’s coach spoke honestly about what wing Julian Strawther is experiencing in his second season after he had his minutes against the Lakers severely limited by foul trouble.

“Teams are targeting him. Let’s just be honest. (When) Julian’s out there, they’re targeting him. He went back out there with three fouls, they put him in a pick-and-roll. He got his fourth foul right away,” Malone said. “He’s just got to be a little bit more disciplined, show his hands, slide his feet, use his chest. These are all learning experiences for a young player.”

What I’m Following

– San Antonio had to shut down Victor Wembanyama for the season after the reigning Rookie of the Year and expected Defensive Player of the Year was diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis, a blood clot, in his shoulder. Some NBA players who have had the condition treated have returned to the court. Chris Bosh had clots in his leg that reached his lungs, effectively ending his playing career. Wembanyama’s condition doesn’t appear as serious, but it’s too early to tell when he might return.

– Joel Embiid is considering an early end to his season. According to ESPN, the 2023 Most Valuable Player is evaluating his options as his right knee issues persist. Injections and other treatments haven’t had the desired effect, leading the 76ers center to consider surgery and other options. Philadelphia started Monday 12th in the Eastern Conference.

– Gregg Popovich’s future coaching the Spurs is in question. The longtime Spurs coach is not expected to return this season after suffering a mild stroke in November.

– The Warriors retired Andre Iguodala’s No. 9 prior to Saturday’s game. Iguodala spent one complicated season with the Nuggets before winning four championships with Golden State.

What I’m Reading

Our columnist Mark Kiszla came up with quite an idea to reignite Denver’s dynasty talk. It might involve some light tampering, but it’s definitely worth a read if you missed it.

The List

Two of the leading candidates for Defensive Player of the Year – Victor Wembanyama and Anthony Davis – will not be eligible for the award this season due to the 65-games-played threshold. Here are the new favorites to win the award, per covers.com:

1. Jaren Jackson Jr., Memphis, -125

2. Evan Mobley, Cavaliers, +105

3. Luguentz Dort, Thunder, +1,200

4. Dyson Daniels, Hawks, +1,300

5. Jalen Williams, Thunder, +2,500