Atlanta @ Denver preview

Last Meeting ( Oct 27, 2017 ) Denver 105, Atlanta 100

The Denver Nuggets have played their best basketball this season at home, winning 14 of 18 games, and open a stretch in which they enjoy 11 of the next 14 contests at the Pepsi Center by hosting the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday. The Nuggets began Tuesday in seventh place in the Western Conference standings - one game out of fifth - but have dropped four of their last six despite battling to the end in Monday's 124-114 loss at Golden State.

“We never quit working,” Denver coach Michael Malone told reporters Monday after the Nuggets pulled within six points with 1:26 to go after trailing by 18 with 7:17 remaining. “We forced them to bring their starters back in. We forced them to finish that game out.” Atlanta reaches the midway point of the season on pace for a 61-loss season following Monday’s 108-107 setback at the Los Angeles Clippers, and arrives in Denver with the NBA’s worst record. The Hawks trailed by 11 at halftime, but rallied to take a two-point lead with 23 seconds left before surrendering C.J. Williams' game-winning 3-pointer with nine seconds to go. “We got our transition defense in a better place in the second half, and made them play in the half court,” Atlanta coach Mike Budenholzer told reporters afterward. “If you do that at least give yourself a chance.”

TV: 9 p.m. ET, FS Southeast (Atlanta), Altitude (Denver)

ABOUT THE HAWKS (10-30): Taurean Prince led Atlanta with 20 points Monday and finished 4-for-8 from 3-point range, one night after dislocating his right ring finger in a loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. Dennis Schroder leads the Hawks in scoring at 19.8 points per game, and his 6.5 assists per contest sat tied for 11th in the NBA entering Tuesday. The Hawks started Tuesday seventh in the league in 3-point shooting (37.5 percent), but ranks 25th in points allowed per game (108.5).

ABOUT THE NUGGETS (21-19): Gary Harris and Nikola Jokic each scored 22 points against the Warriors while Jamal Murray and Trey Lyles added 21 apiece as the quartet combined for 75.4 percent of Denver’s offense. Murray has scored 20-plus points with at least six rebounds in four of his past seven games and Harris leads Denver in scoring at 16.7 points per contest. The Nuggets started Tuesday eighth in the NBA in scoring at 107.6 points per game.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. The Nuggets committed just 11 turnovers against Golden State, two nights after recording a season-worst 26 in a loss at Sacramento.

2. Atlanta grabbed a season-best 19 offensive rebounds against the Clippers, the seventh consecutive game the Hawks recorded 10 or more.

3. Denver beat the Hawks 105-100 on Oct. 27 in Atlanta, getting 18 points and 15 rebounds from Jokic.

PREDICTION: Nuggets 109, Hawks 101