Nuggets, Hawks each trying to end three-game slide

One team is guaranteed to end a three-game losing streak on Monday when the defending champion Denver Nuggets make their only trip of the season to play the Atlanta Hawks.

The Nuggets have dropped three in a row following Friday's 114-106 loss to Houston. The Hawks are on a three-game slide and have lost five of their past six after Friday's 125-114 loss to Philadelphia.

Atlanta and Denver split their two games last season, with each prevailing on their home court. Atlanta's win came without Trae Young, who missed the contest with a sore right shoulder. Denver's win was marked by a 41-point performance from Jamal Murray.

Young was not in the lineup against the 76ers because of an illness but is expected to play Monday. He was well enough to make an appearance at the Hawks' Naismith Classic, a local high school tournament, on Saturday and take a few shots at halftime.

The Hawks have also been without emerging forward Jalen Johnson (averages of 14.1 points and 7.3 rebounds), who has missed the past six games with a left wrist fracture.

Young leads the team with 27.2 points and 10.6 assists per game. Dejounte Murray is averaging 20 points, 5.5 assists and 4.4 rebounds per game.

"The NBA provides you times of the season where there is adversity," Hawks coach Quin Snyder said. "I thought without Trae and J.J., our guys really competed.

"Obviously, the game didn't finish on a high level for us. But I don't necessarily think that the score was indicative about how hard we played through portions of the game and we got great efforts from the bench as well."

Snyder was pleased with the performance of some of the less-frequently used players such as Garrison Mathews, Trent Forrest and veteran Patty Mills against the Sixers.

"You have to have that next-man-up mentality," Snyder said. "They're playing more extended minutes and (the) litmus test is you're competing and they were doing that for the most part."

Denver's Nikola Jokic has struggled lately with his shooting and has made only 18 of 58 over the past two games. On Friday he was 9-for-26 from the field and finished with 23 points and 16 rebounds.

"I took shots I always take," Jokic said. "I didn't shoot any crazy shots. The ball just didn't want to go in."

Jokic is shooting 53.5 percent from the floor and 30.4 percent on 3-pointers for the season. Jokic is averaging 28.4 points, 13 rebounds and 9.6 assists. In 16 career games against Atlanta, Jokic is averaging 18.1 points, 10.9 rebounds and 6.3 assists.

Murray returned to the lineup after missing 11 straight games with a right hamstring strain; he then suffered a right ankle sprain that kept him out for two additional games. He has played the past two games and topped 20 points both times. He was ejected late in Friday's game after arguing that he had been hacked.

"He got thrown out because he was cutting through the lane and was getting choked," Denver coach Michael Malone said. "That causes frustration."

Murray is listed as probable for Monday's contest.

--Field Level Media