Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets are riding a 3-game winning streak while Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs are looking to start a winning streak having knocked off the Clippers on New Year’s Eve in their last game. Wemby scored 27 in the win. Jokic had a triple-double in Denver’s most recent outing, a 139-120 win over Atlanta.

For the first time this season, the San Antonio Spurs will take on Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets. After a slow start to the season, Denver has surged up to the fourth seed in the Western Conference thanks to stellar play from Nikola Jokic, who is poised to win his fourth MVP award.

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• Paul entered Friday's game at Denver needing 21 steals to pass Jason Kidd (2,684) into second place on the NBA career chart. • Jokic came into Friday's game averaging 24.4 points, 9.9 rebounds and 7.6 assists in 31 career games against the Spurs.

The Spurs will miss forward Jeremy Sochan, who is dealing with a back injury, and a hurt calf will keep Aaron Gordon out for the Nuggets. Sochan has already missed 13 games this season with a thumb injury, and the Spurs are 8-5 in those games, but the Nuggets present a unique challenge.

The San Antonio Spurs and Denver Nuggets have yet to play each other this season and will get reacquainted in a hurry with two games that tip off less than 24 hours apart.

The Philadelphia 76ers, Los Angeles Lakers, Phoenix Suns, Cleveland Cavaliers and Minnesota Timberwolves all traded away their picks and will not make a selection. Please note, the draft order and statistics are as of Jan. 1, 2025.

Friday night is a big one for the San Antonio Spurs as they take on the Denver Nuggets in what’s shaping up to be a real test of their growth. The Spurs are still finding their footing with a young team, but January could be the month where they start making some noise in the playoff conversation.

Speculation grows about the Phoenix Suns potentially trading their star guard, Devin Booker, to the San Antonio Spurs as both teams reevaluate their futures.

In November, Victor Wembanyama won the Western Conference Defensive Player of the Month award. As the runaway favorite to win Defensive Player of the Year in just his second NBA season, the expectation was that he would win multiple of these monthly awards as the season went on.

When Sochan returned to the starting lineup in mid-December, bumping Castle back to the bench, the rookie’s numbers dropped. Much of that can be traced to a change in opportunity. Castle went from playing 30.5 minutes per game as a starter to 18.9 per game as a reserve.