Nuggets create a rhythm on the road and aim to defeat the Nets

The Denver Nuggets, the defending NBA champions, had difficulty winning on the road during their first month of play. However, they are now quite consistent in their away performances.

The Nuggets face the struggling Brooklyn Nets on Friday night in an attempt to win four straight games away from home and surpass the.500 mark in those contests.

In order to tie the New York Knicks for the most away games in the NBA, Denver is playing its 17th away game. It travels to Brooklyn and Charlotte before playing eight of the next ten games at home before embarking on a five-game road trip that includes trips in Boston and Philadelphia the following month.

The Nuggets would like their latest road contest to be similar to some of their recent games. Denver averaged 106.7 points when it lost six of its first nine road games through a 105-86 loss to the Houston Rockets.

Since then the Nuggets are 5-2 in their past road games, a stretch highlighted by wins over the Los Angeles Clippers and Phoenix Suns ahead of wins over the Atlanta Hawks, Chicago Bulls, and Toronto Raptors.

Denver’s latest road win occurred Wednesday when it led for the final 40:54 and by as many as 21 in a 113-104 win over Toronto when the Nuggets also won for the fifth time in six games since a three-game losing streak Dec. 2-8. The Nuggets shot 50 percent for the 13th time and remained unbeaten in those games.

“Our offense has been a lot more efficient (in road games),” Denver coach Mike Malone said. “We’re getting back to playing our style of basketball.”

It was Nikola Jokic’s fourth game of the season with at least 30 points and 15 rebounds. Jokic, who is averaging 24.7 points in 15 away games thus far, finished with 31 points, 15 rebounds, and six assists. For his fifth 20-point performance after coming back from a hamstring injury, Jamal Murray added 20 more points.

On December 14, Jokic recorded a triple-double with 26 points, 14 rebounds, and 10 assists as the Nuggets defeated the Nets 124-101, never trailing.

The Brooklyn Nets’ 1-5 losing streak extended on Wednesday with a 121-102 loss to the New York Knicks. This is the team’s final matchup with Denver. Prior to that loss, the Nets had a seven-game winning streak from November 25 to December 8.

Following a five-game road trip in which it gave up 123.2 points,

The Nets trailed by nine after the opening quarter and have been outscored by 19 in their past six first quarters.

“We just need to be the team that punches first every night, and we’re not that team right now,” Brooklyn’s Cameron Johnson said. “We haven’t been that team the past couple of games.”

Johnson and Cam Thomas scored 20 points apiece to lead the Nets but Mikal Bridges shot 4 of 21 and is shooting 27.4 percent (17 of 62) in his past four outings.