Spencer Jones set to return for Nuggets in Mexico City, squeezing Denver's young forwards

Spencer Jones is expected to make his season debut for the Denver Nuggets on Saturday against the Indiana Pacers in Mexico City. He is no longer on the injury report after a long recovery from a hamstring strain he picked up in the offseason. Bennett Durando of The Denver Post reported that Jones and the team had been aiming for this game all week, and NBC Sports confirmed he has been cleared to play.

Jones should help a team that is still sorting out its rotation. He brings perimeter defense and three-point shooting, and the staff relied on him last season. While he was out, though, rookies Trevon Brazile and Bryce Hopkins played well enough to earn real minutes. Ryan Blackburn of Mile High Sports thinks David Adelman will have trouble finding minutes for all three forwards. His projected 10-man group leaves out Hopkins, pairs Brazile with Nikola Jokic, and gives Jones about 14 minutes in his first game back. Blackburn added that Jones's minutes could grow quickly, and most of them would likely come out of Brazile's.

DeMar DeRozan's health also affects how this works out. He was scratched late from Wednesday's win over Toronto with lower-back spasms. If he's available, Blackburn projects him as the backup shooting guard alongside Cam Johnson and Jones in the second unit. That would push the young forwards further down the bench. Adelman could also go to an 11-man rotation to cut everyone's minutes, but that means reworking substitution patterns that have only just started to settle.

What it means against Indiana

Denver is 4-3, and its results have gone back and forth. A 20-point home loss to Golden State came between two wins over New Orleans, and a home loss to Portland was followed by a 128-109 win over the Raptors. Across seven games the Nuggets have scored 808 points and allowed 803, which works out to less than a point per game. They are 2-1 away from Ball Arena, with wins at Phoenix and New Orleans.

Indiana comes in at 3-6. According to Pacers.com, the Pacers ended a five-game losing streak in Memphis. Tyrese Haliburton is out with a left hamstring strain, and T.J. McConnell and Kelly Oubre Jr. are questionable. With Indiana that short-handed, Denver has room to bring Jones back gradually instead of leaning on him right away.

The market has Denver as a clear favorite. Novig, one of nine venues on this site's board, lists the Nuggets at -223 and the Pacers at +203. Polymarket has the best Indiana price anywhere at +212. The point spread varies by venue. The best Denver number is -6.5 at -107 at BetRivers, and DraftKings has Indiana +7.5 at -114. Novig sets the total at 228.5, with the over at -113 and the under at -108. theScore Bet's best over is a point lower at 227.5. Sportsbook hold runs from 3.7% to 5.1% on the moneyline and from 4.7% to 5.2% on the spread and total, so prices differ only slightly from one venue to the next.

The game tips Saturday afternoon on NBA TV. How many minutes Jones gets, and whose minutes he takes, will show where the bench stands a week into November.