Popovich: Regardless of missing players, Nuggets still dangerous

The San Antonio Spurs are back home tonight against the 6-2 Denver Nuggets.

Gregg PopovichWhile the Nuggets are missing three key players, who are under contract with the Chinese Basketball Association, it hasn’t kept them from a number two ranking out West and from going on a hot four-game winning streak.

The Nuggets will look for number five, while the Spurs look to stay perfect at home tonight.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said regardless of where Denver’s players were, they are still a stacked team.

“You know, they’re a really deep team, they’ve got great athletes and they’re going to play one way, fast paced, and that’s the way George wants to go so those are the kinds of guys that they’ve accumulated,” Popovich said. “That’s what they do no matter if they’re in Denver, China or anywhere. That’s how they’re going to play.”

And just how have the Nuggets been able to stay afloat without Kenyon Martin, J.R. Smith and Wilson Chandler?

Popovich says everyone picks up the slack.

“Everybody is of the same mind,” Popovich said. “They don’t have one guy that’s going to score 30 so they all know that they gotta participate and they do that as far as everyone having the same pace. They depend on everyone to do it.”

With the Spurs losing Manu, they’ve looked to several players to fill that role just as the Nuggets have with their losses.

Be sure to check back tonight and tomorrow morning for more game coverage.

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