Nuggets Stranded in Memphis After Grizzlies Game Canceled

An unexpected and unfavorable outcome for the Nuggets, taking them away from home for an extended chunk of time, without having a game to show for it.

How Will the Delay Affect Denver?

There is a bit of a silver lining in the Nuggets' extended time off, considering they'll have a three-day rest to utilize before their next game takes place, rather than having to play three games in a four-day span, and an even quicker turnaround than usual when factoring in their tip-off against Memphis, which was scheduled in the middle of the day.

For a beaten-up Nuggets team that had all five of their starters on the injury report heading into the contest, paired with a few key injures down the bench, that extra rest over the weekend might actually be used to their advantage.

It allows guys like Jamal Murray, Peyton Watson, and Jonas Valanciunas a longer time away to get right from minor scratches that put their status in question against the Milwaukee Bucks. And perhaps more importantly, Nikola Jokic gets a key game pushed back that allows for more recovery time, and keeps his 65-game minimum for end-of-season awards alive and well, currently just three absences away from missing that mark entirely.

Denver will be forced to re-schedule their game against the Grizzlies at a later date, and considering we're already past the halfway point of the NBA regular season, there's a good chance that new date to play in Memphis could come at a more inconvenient time–– potentially around the All-Star Break.

However, factoring in the implications of the Nuggets' injury troubles and the weekend of rest that came of their cancellation against the Grizzlies, there might not be a better time on the schedule for such an event to take place. While a waste of time to travel to and from Memphis, that added recovery time is most definitely valued by this Denver team that's already faced a bundle of challenges over the past few months.

As for what's on the horizon, the Nuggets' next game on the calendar lies not too far ahead, as they'll be taking on the number-one seeded Detroit Pistons on Tuesday to get back to business and hope to extend their current win streak alongside it.