- The defensive issues that have been plaguing the Nuggets were on display again Friday at Portland, observes Troy Renck of The Denver Post. They surrendered 128 points to a Blazers team that was missing its leading scorer and fell to 8-8 since the All-Star break. Renck adds that losing Bruce Brown and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in the last two offseasons has left coach Michael Malone with no answers for certain matchup problems.
- Nuggets star Nikola Jokic will miss his fourth straight game Sunday in Houston with a left ankle impingement, according to Vinny Benedetto of The Denver Post (Twitter link). Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon and Christian Braun are all probable.