Denver @ Indiana preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 24, 2019 ) Denver 88, Indiana 124

The Denver Nuggets will try to wipe a very bad taste out of their mouths from the final game of 2019 when they open 2020 by visiting the Indiana Pacers on Thursday. The Nuggets were cruising along with wins in nine of 10 games before opening the five-game trip at Houston on Tuesday and falling flat in a 130-104 setback.

Denver allowed the Rockets to shoot 52.9 percent from the floor and knock down 16 3-pointers, exposing flaws in the team that coach Michael Malone believes was getting overlooked while it was winning. "I'm glad that our offense has picked up, but our defense has been on a milk carton recently," Malone told reporters. "One-on-one, no help defense, 3-point defense, all of the above (has been a struggle)." The Pacers are winners of six straight at home and are coming off an impressive 115-97 drubbing of the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday. "I felt like we came out today with a different mindset," Indiana forward Domantas Sabonis told reporters after the victory. "When you're up 20 and in these kind of games in this league, anybody can come back and win the game. I feel like we did a great job just keeping the focus and playing our game."

TIME: 7 p.m. ET. TV: Altitude, FS Indiana

ABOUT THE NUGGETS (23-10): Nikola Jokic continued his recent string of strong offensive performances with 21 points on 10-of-17 shooting Tuesday but also led the team with six turnovers and struggled on the defensive end. "The defense was not up to par," Malone told reporters. "Our defense has slowly been disappearing, even though we've gone 9-1 in the past 10 games. Give them credit, they're a good team. But this was disappointing." The Nuggets were outscored 38-15 in the fourth quarter against Houston while falling to 8-6 on the road.

ABOUT THE PACERS (22-12): Indiana dropped back-to-back road games before coming home on Tuesday and cruising past Philadelphia, and better execution on both ends of the floor was the key. "We established our defense, got stops, and were able to get into transition," Pacers coach Nate McMillan told reporters. "With 35 assists, we were making their defense move and work, and we were knocking down a high percentage of our shots. I just loved the tempo we established at the defensive end of the floor as well as the offensive end." T.J. McConnell and Aaron Holiday combined for 17 of those 35 assists off the bench after starting point guard Malcolm Brogdon went down with a back injury that leaves him day-to-day.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Nuggets SG Gary Harris (shin) sat out Tuesday and is day-to-day.

2. Pacers SF T.J. Warren went 2-of-2 from 3-point range on Tuesday after going a combined 4-of-18 over the previous four games.

3. The home team took the last four meetings, with Indiana earning a 124-88 victory in the most recent matchup on March. 24.

PREDICTION: Pacers 109, Nuggets 104