In the middle of the Nuggets 2-game escape from frigid temps they hit the midway point of the regular season. After collecting a pair of wins in the Sunshine state with wins over their 2022 NBA Finals foes Friday night in Miami, and Sunday gave Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and his Orlando Magic teammates an L on their way out of town.
Despite several “minor” injuries, as well as Aaron Gordon’s nagging calf issues, they find themselves 2 games clear of the Clippers for the 4th seed in the Western Conference, and just 2 games behind the Rockets who are sitting in the second spot. Everyone is looking up a Division Rival OKC, who’s 7 games in front of the pack, at 35-7. Denver’s 26-16 is not only respectable the team is clearly rounding into form, or at least getting closer to resembling the team that Head Coach Michael Malone expects them to be. “I think it’s been our best stretch of the year, even with Aaron working his way back in, coming off the bench, our starters have played very well, more importantly, our bench has played really well,” Malone said before the team left for their most recent road trip. “We’ve been able to rest Nikola(Jokic) at the at the 7 minute mark of the 4th quatrter at times, which is phenomenal. When healthy, I like how we’ve played (of late)…”
It goes without saying that Joker is the straw that stirs the drink for the Nuggets, and that’s an understatement. He’s not only the best player in Denver, he’s the best player on Earth, and his numbers are even better this season, than in any of his 3 MVP seasons. He’s averaging a career highs in points(30.1), assists (9.9) and 3-point percentage (47.1%) as well as 13.2 rebounds. All of those marks are second or third best in the entire NBA! Oh, he also fourth in the NBA in steals and double-doubles, and unsurprisingly, his 18 triple-doubles are tops in the league as well.
However, in order for them to hoist another Larry O’Brien Trophy and raise another banner at Ball Arena, they’re only gonna go as far as Jamal Murray can take them.That obviously sounds silly with Joker playing at an all-time clip, again. We saw Shaquille O'Neal call him out last Tuesday, and, thankfully for Nuggets fans, The Blue Arrow is rounding into form. After his 45-point outburst against Dallas a week ago, he’s followed up with 30, 22 and 19 points, all whilst shooting over 50% from the field. And perhaps most importantly, he and future hall-of-famer Russell Westbrook, have not only learned to co-exist, but play well together in the starting lineup. And with all of the injuries, and trying to mix and match lineups, getting consistent contributions from the young players has been and will be key. “I’ve seen growth from everybody, since the beginning of the season, how we communicate, how we weather the minutes, as the season’s gone on they’ve done a better job of navigating all that, which leads to better play,” Murray said. “It’s not easy, but they’re all coming along well. And we’re going to need them”
As young players like Peyton Watson and Julian Strawther continue to find their stride and define their roles, the biggest decision that will effect the bench and rotation the most will be Malone’s decision on the starting lineup once Aaron Gordon is completely healthy. A case can be made that A-G coming off the bench has been positive, even though his minutes have been limited. Certainly, Westbrook could return to the second unit. Or, what’s most likely to happen, is that Christian Braun returns to the bench, but with the experience of starting nearly every game this season, and that boosts his play and the potential leadership he can offer in that role. His play has certainly picked up of late, and the former Kansas Jayhawk understands how big every single game is, “I think that the Western Conference is so close this year you understand the importance of every game. I think we’re in that stretch, that 2 losses can take you from 4 to 8, or whatever it is…understanding how important each one really is.”
With the trade deadline only weeks away(Feb. 6), there will be calls for something to be done. The name we will keep hearing is Michael Porter Jr. It doesn’t feel like they are in a hurry to move MPJ or make a move, just for the sake of making a move. One interesting addition, that likely wouldn’t happen because of a trade, would be the potential acquisition of Bruce Brown. Reports out of Toronto are the Raptors are trying to trade the veteran guard, who was a such a big part of the Nuggs title run 2 years ago. He’s reaching the end of his 2-year $23 Million-deal he signed with the Pacers, before being shipped the Great White North. A trade is unrealistic financially, but if the Raptors buy Brown out, and the Nuggets make a corresponding move, likely with Zeke Nnaji, then fan favorite, “Brucie-B” as Gordon calls him, could be back in a Nuggets uniform by the All-Star Break.
Acquiring Brown would create a bit of a logjam in the backcourt, but it feels like a good problem to have, since his defense and 3-point shooting will be such a valuable asset.
The month of January is certainly challenging, with 17 games in the first month of the new calendar year. And the schedule as a whole has been “brutal” as Malone put it, pointing out that his team not only played 3 games in 4 nights, in 3-different time zones last week, but that they have had the most back-to-back games, of which they are 8-1 on the second night. But they’ve also had the most “rest disadvantage games” and least amount of “rest advantage” games. They’ve certainly navigated those obstacles extremely well. And the good news on the schedule front, is it gets more favorable over the next 15 games with 9 of those at home, and none against teams with a better record.
Thus Malone feels good about where his team is as they’ve been not only a top 3 offense in the last 12 games, but also a top-5 defense, “I think it’s been our best stretch of the year, even with Aaron working his way back in, coming off the bench, our starters have played very well, more importantly, our bench has played really well,” he said. “We’ve been able to rest Nikola at the at the 7 minute mark of the 4th quatrter at times, which is phenomenal. When healthy, I like how we’ve played (of late)…we know what we have offensively, but if we can bring it every night defensively, I think we can be a team to be reckoned with.”
