Nikola Jokic is caught up on his laundry. His girlfriend has taken care of that chore during a brutal December with 10 road games.
“She makes my life easier,” Jokic said after Saturday’s shootaround.
Still, Jokic and the Nuggets are ready to ease up on the travel. Entering Saturday, Denver was tied with Sacramento for the most road games played by a Western Conference team this season (20). But a home date with Philadelphia kicked off a stretch of 18-of-26 games at Pepsi Center through February. The Nuggets have been terrific at home, posting a 12-3 record entering Saturday.
“We were all over the place,” Jokic said of the busy December. “And then when we came back home, we were just staying one day. You kind of want to just be home and relax, especially since we have a really good record at home. That’s gonna help us too. Our fans are really good this year.”
A weird January scheduling quirk? Four of Denver’s five road games in January come on the second night of a back-to-back set, including two at San Antonio.
Plumlee recovering. It’s been more than a week since starting big man Mason Plumlee twice dislocated his finger in a Dec. 23 win at Golden State, a “terrible” game in which he says it was “very hard” to catch the ball.
Plumlee’s left ring and pinky fingers were still wrapped in ice after Saturday’s shootaround. But he hasn’t missed any game time and is no longer feeling intense pain on the court.
“It’s just really swollen, but it’s all good,” Plumlee said. “It’s always something, right?”
Quotable. Philadelphia coach Brett Brown on Jokic: “(He) is one of these unusual finds in that he’s such an elite passer. He can put it to the floor. There really aren’t many weaknesses for him offensively.”
Footnote. Nuggets reserve forward Juancho Hernangomez, who had been inactive for Denver’s previous two games, missed Saturday’s game against Philadelphia with an illness. It is unrelated to his bout with mononucleosis earlier this season, a team spokesperson said.
