Knicks vs. Nuggets Preview: How, Who to Watch When Defending Champs Visit

The New York Knicks resume a lengthy homestand on Thursday night when the defending champion Denver Nuggets visit.

The New York Knicks struck gold against the Denver Nuggets last season.

New York was the only team to sweep Denver en route to the latter's first NBA title and they'll get their first chance to repeat the feat on Thursday night when a lengthy homestand continues at Madison Square Garden. The Knicks will look to tie their season-long winning streak at five games, having earned their fourth in a row on Tuesday in Brooklyn.

Thus continues a lengthy stay in New York for the Knicks, who are in the midst of a 14-game trek where just one selection is held outside of Empire State borders. New York is 4-1 thus far, the lone loss coming on the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday against Orlando. 

Denver enters a half-game out of first place in the Western Conference in its championship defense. The Nuggets have won three in a row as they reach the last part of a five-game road trip, with their latest endeavor being a 114-109 win over the Indiana Pacers.

What: Denver Nuggets (31-14) @ New York Knicks (27-17)

Where: Madison Square Garden, New York, NY

When/Watch: Thursday, 7:30 p.m. ET, MSG

Who's Favored: DEN -2.5

Keep An Eye On: Jericho Sims

With Isaiah Hartenstein's status still uncertain, the Knicks will likely continue to turn to Sims as a starter as they continue to bide their time until Mitchell Robinson's potential return. Sims is a fringe roster participant when the Knicks are healthy but head coach Tom Thibodeau has trusted him with the opening minutes despite Precious Achiuwa stepping up in recent appearances. The third-year man has, at the very least, been a reliable bench prescience, but the challenge multiples fortyfold thanks to ...

Nugget to Watch: Nikola Jokic

Though Achiuwa has stepped up with Hartenstein down, the Knicks will be hard-pressed to contain Jokic, who continues to headline Denver's statistical leaderboards on a nightly basis. New York has made its bread and butter through drastic advantages in the interior, even with Robinson out: through last Saturday's game against Toronto, the Knicks had a plus-10.7 margin on the boards in the new calendar year. Brooklyn's Nic Claxton, however, was able to get 16 after only three periods on Tuesday, the first time Hartenstein missed a Knicks game in his two seasons stationed in Manhattan. New York buckled down in the fourth but Jokic obviously isn't going down without a fight.

They Said It

"I didn't think we played particularly well, but I love how we responded in the fourth quarter. That said a lot about who we are. The bench, they were hustling, flying all over the place. That closed the gap and gave us the hope that, OK, we can get this done. Then when the starters came back, they fed off that energy. Finding a way to win when you're not at your best is huge and that's the bottom line. Just find ways to win. I think our team is doing that."-head coach Tom Thibodeau on winning ugly games (h/t CBS)

Parker Clarifies Brunson Comments to Hart, Knicks Fans

Prediction

One is fully capable of enjoying this prosperous run of Knicks basketball while fully acknowledging the team's struggle to put subpar competition away is concerning. There's reason that the general consensus around the Knicks' ceiling is that they're a sleeper team until it's proven they can hang with the NBA's elite or make another deal. A showdown against the defending champions should be a gentle ... yet somewhat necessary ... tug back to reality, at least for a short while.

Nuggets 124, Knicks 119