Denver @ New York preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 22, 2019 ) Denver 111, New York 93

Coming off a 44-point loss at Milwaukee, their seventh straight defeat, the New York Knicks are in another tailspin that could end up costing head coach David Fizdale his job. With the pressure building on Fizdale, the Knicks will try again to end their latest slide when they host the Denver Nuggets on Thursday.

"We didn't come out with the right mindset for whatever reason," Fizdale told reporters after the 132-88 setback to the Bucks on Monday. "Whatever my motivational talk was didn't take hold I guess. We'll bounce back. We'll get into the film. We'll own it. We'll watch it and we'll get ready for another very good basketball team." The Nuggets are coming off their second straight loss following a 10-1 stretch, although the latest defeat came at the hands of the Western Conference-leading Los Angeles Lakers. Jamal Murray scored 22 points and Paul Millsap added 21 in the 105-96 setback, during which Denver was outrebounded 56-35. "They are a better team than us right now," Millsap told reporters of the Lakers. "We didn't bring our best game but we were still in the game."

TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, Altitude 2 (Denver), MSG (New York)

ABOUT THE NUGGETS (13-5): Tuesday's loss to the Lakers featured a rough night for star center Nikola Jokic, who had more turnovers (five) than made baskets, finishing 4-of-12 from the floor. Will Barton also struggled with his shot in a 2-for-11 effort as Denver fell shy of the 100-point mark for the second straight time. The Nuggets are 6-1 versus the East as they begin a four-game road trip against teams exclusively from that conference.

ABOUT THE KNICKS (4-17): Among the many glaring issues in the latest loss was an abysmal shooting night for rookie standout RJ Barrett, who missed all nine of his shot attempts in a season-low two-point effort. Fellow starters Kevin Knox (1-for-9) and Dennis Smith Jr. (1-for-7) weren't much better as New York suffered through its worst shooting game (30.8 percent) since March 11, 2013. Veteran forward and leading scorer Marcus Morris Sr. missed his second straight game with a neck issue and is day-to-day.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. The teams meet again 10 days later in Denver.

2. Murray is 1-for-10 from 3-point range over his last three games while going 20-for-35 inside the arc.

3. Knicks PG Frank Ntilikina (back) sat out the loss to the Milwaukee and is considered day-to-day.

PREDICTION: Nuggets 108, Knicks 100