For the better part of this young season, home hasn’t just been where the heart is for the Nuggets, but where nearly all the games were played. Now comes a five-game road trip starting tonight at Milwaukee — as many road games in one trip as the Nuggets have played so far this season.
The split is odd: four in a row (in five days) against the Eastern Conference this week, then a three-day break and the last game Jan. 25 at Sacramento.
The highlight of the trip is Saturday’s game at New York, the first time the teams have met since the Carmelo Anthony trade nearly a calendar year ago. Woeful Washington and surprisingly good Philadelphia are the other two opponents on the Eastern swing.
“It’s going to be one of the most important weeks of the entire season,” Nuggets forward Danilo Gallinari said.
The Nuggets (8-5) watched film Monday, then did some light shooting at the Pepsi Center practice court before leaving town. They are coming off of an ugly loss to Utah on Sunday, a game in which they missed layups and free throws. Still, Nuggets coach George Karl put the brakes on any talk of panicking just 13 games into the season.
“My thing is, don’t get crazy,” Karl said. “We have a good month going, maybe a great month. Anytime you go on the road, (winning) half the games is what you’re looking at getting done; that’s always a good trip. We’re hoping for more than that. We’re playing well enough that we can get more than that.
“But let’s not get greedy or selfish. It’s a crazy year. Maybe we can fall into some luck. We need to take what happened last night (a home loss to the Jazz) and learn from it and move on.”
Defense has been a recent problem for the Nuggets, who have allowed four of their last five opponents to shoot 50 percent or better and score 100 points or more. They are 2-2 in those games, and 2-3 overall in the five-game span.
Milwaukee suffered a 91-86 loss to the Nuggets on Jan. 2 at the Pepsi Center. While the Bucks are winless on the road, they are undefeated (4-0) at home.
“They beat San Antonio at home the other night,” Karl said. “What’s funny is I think Milwaukee plays a little bit like Utah and New Orleans. They’re not going to let you have the paint catches. They are going to make it very difficult for you to finish, you’re going to have to be clever and trickier. And when you do get to the rim you’re going to have to finish over a defender. (Sunday) night we didn’t do that very well.”
It’s a puzzle forward Al Harrington said the Nuggets are going to have to solve.
“When we get teams that try to get us into that type of game, we’re going to have to learn to execute better,” Harrington said. “We’ve just got to play hard.”
Christopher Dempsey: 303-954-1279 or cdempsey@denverpost.com
DENVER AT MILWAUKEE
6 p.m. tonight, ALT, 1510 AM
Spotlight on Brandon Jennings: This is his third season in the NBA, and the 6-foot-1, cat-quick point guard is producing what the Bucks need to improve. Jennings is averaging 36.0 minutes, 17.8 points, 5.0 assists and 1.6 steals — all team-leading figures.
NOTEBOOK
Nuggets: Backup swingman Rudy Fernandez (Achilles tendon) likely won’t play tonight, Nuggets coach George Karl said Monday after practice. “I think it’ll be a couple of days (before he returns),” Karl said. Fernandez’s injury is a chronic problem, the team said, not an injury he suffered for the first time during Sunday’s game against Utah.
Bucks: Tonight’s game is the second of a back-to-back set for the Bucks, who are undefeated at home (4-0) and winless on the road (0-8). … The Nuggets have won three in a row against Milwaukee. … The Bucks’ Brandon Jennings and Stephen Jackson attended Oak Hill Academy in Virginia, as did the Nuggets’ Ty Lawson.
Christopher Dempsey, The Denver Post
