DENVER (AP) — The Denver Nuggets were without two big pieces of their offense in Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. for their game against the short-handed Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday night.
Murray missed a second straight game due to tightness in his right hamstring. Porter was a late scratch as he deals with a family situation, Nuggets coach Michael Malone said.
“I told Michael, ‘Listen, family is more important than anything. You’ve got to be with your family,’” Malone said.
Malone didn't elaborate on Porter's family matter. Malone added: "Obviously, our thoughts and prayers are with Michael and his entire family at this time.”
Murray is averaging 21.6 points and six assists this season. Porter has been an outside threat, hitting a team-leading 182 3-pointers this season while averaging 18.2 points.
“The game becomes that much more challenging without two starters that average whatever many points they average combined,” Malone said. “We as a group, we’ve shown this year, many times, when undermanned, when we dig deep, what we’re capable of.”
With Murray, Porter and Julian Strawther (left knee) all sidelined, Malone was asked how that might alter his team's spacing of the floor.
“You wait and watch, baby. We just put it in — a new offense — 15 minutes ago,” Malone cracked
Really, though, it remains the same — get the ball to NBA MVP Nikola Jokic, who's averaging 29.3 points, 12.8 rebounds and 10.2 assists.
“Honestly, it’s not how well-spaced the floor, because our guys will space the floor correctly. It’s how will they guard us? That’s really the question,” Malone said. "Because whether that’s Michael Porter in the right corner or Peyton Watson in the right corner, we’ll space it correctly. Now we have to read and react to how they’re going to guard us.
"Obviously, without a Jamal Murray out there, without a Michael Porter Jr. out there, we expect to see a lot more double teams, a lot more crowds, and that’s where hopefully we can find a way to get some not only stops, but defensive rebounds so we can get out and run. If we’re playing half-court basketball tonight, this could be a long night for us.”
The Timberwolves were without center Naz Reid and guard Donte DiVincenzo, who both received a one-game suspension for their roles in an on-court altercation against the Detroit Pistons on Sunday.
The league announced suspensions for both teams Tuesday.
“Glad we were able to get news of it early enough so we could plan, adjust, move on,” Minnesota coach Chris Finch said.
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Utah Jazz guard Collin Sexton, right, is stopped while driving the lane by Denver Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. in the second half of an NBA basketball game Friday, March 28, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Milwaukee Bucks guard Kevin Porter Jr., back right, is blocked by Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, back left, as guard Jamal Murray heads to the basket in the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, March 26, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
NEW YORK (AP) — The bond market is swinging Wednesday, while U.S. stocks hold relatively steady after the Federal Reserve decided not to raise its main interest rate to bring down high inflation. The bond market's moves indicated traders see less of a chance of hikes to rates in the future, which would help with inflation but also hurt the economy.
The S&P 500 rose 0.2% and pulled within 1% of its all-time high, which was set earlier this month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 84 points, or 0.2%, with an hour remaining in trading, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.1% higher.
The action was much stronger in the bond market, where the yield on the two-year Treasury initially climbed after the Fed announced its decision to hold rates steady. It got above 4.79% after the Fed said two officials had actually voted to raise the federal funds rate, though their peers outweighed them.
The central bank last month raised its main interest rate for the first time in three years in hopes of slowing the high inflation that's discouraging Americans broadly.
But the two-year yield, which closely tracks expectations for Fed action, quickly dropped as low as 4.69% after Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh said the central bank wants to take time to see how conditions play out before making its next move on rates.
He pointed to how rates for loans going to businesses and others across the economy have already climbed recently and how lenders and investors have become “more discerning.” That “monetary medicine” is “starting to work some,” he said.
Along with signals that the U.S. economy continues to grow, Warsh said that “broadly, these developments go in the direction” of helping with the Fed's two goals of a healthy economy and relatively low inflation.
Traders on Wall Street still see further increases to rates as likely, but they pared back bets on how many may come by next summer, according to data from CME Group.
Higher rates also push downward on stock prices, which raises the pressure on companies to deliver big growth in profits to counteract that. Several companies rallied Wednesday after joining the list of those beating analysts’ expectations for the summer.
GE HealthCare Technologies jumped 6.7% after delivering both profit and revenue for the summer that surpassed analysts’ expectations. It also raised its forecasts for revenue growth and other financial measures for the full year.
Etsy climbed 5.9% after its profit for the latest quarter blew past analysts’ forecasts. CEO Kruti Patel Goyal said the online marketplace saw growth in active buyers from prior-year levels for the first time in two years, while its active seller base grew at its fastest rate in two years.
Stocks in the artificial-intelligence industry were also relatively solid. They’ve stabilized this week following big swings on worries that high borrowing costs will undercut the boom in AI data centers largely built with borrowed money.
AI stocks got an additional boost after a major player in the industry, South Korea’s SK Hynix, soared 10.9% in Seoul following its latest profit report. The seller of memory chips said it’s in the midst of a virtuous cycle of rising AI usage, and it expects demand to continue to outpace supply through 2030.
On Wall Street, Micron Technology rose 5.8% and was the strongest force lifting the S&P 500. It also sells memory for computers.
Outside of tech, Wendy's jumped 14.6% to $7.04 after Trian Fund Management, run by investor Nelson Peltz, offered to buy the chain for $7.35 per share in cash.
That helped offset a drop for Boston Scientific, which fell 4.2% even though the seller of medical devices reported a milder drop in profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It gave a forecast for profit in the current quarter that fell short of analysts’ expectations.
Robinhood Markets sank 3.6% after reporting weaker profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected.
In stock markets abroad, South Korea’s Kospi jumped 6.6% following SK Hynix’s leap. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.1%, while France’s CAC 40 edged down by less than 0.1%.
AP Writer Elaine Lai contributed to this report.
FILE - Traders Joseph Stevens, left, and Robert Arciero work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, Feb. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, file)
FILE - Trader Daniel Kryger works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, Feb. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)
Employees work near the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), the foreign exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and the South Korean won, and the Korea Securities Dealers Automated Quotations at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
A dealer stands near the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) and the foreign exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and the South Korean won in a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
A dealer walks near the screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) in a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
