The Denver Nuggets defeated the Memphis Grizzlies tonight 122-110 in what was an extremely impressive bounce back performance.

Jamal Murray led the Nuggets with 27 points, getting up 20 shot attempts in the process. Michael Porter Jr. had 24 points and 10 rebounds on 20 shot attempts himself. Denver’s two remaining stars with Nikola Jokic and Aaron Gordon sidelined showed up tonight in a big way. It wasn’t perfect, but it was valuable, and the level of effort was discernibly different from last Sunday’s matchup.

Russell Westbrook also played a major role off the bench for Denver, making history tonight with his 200th triple-double. He had 12 points, 14 assists, and 10 rebounds, grabbing his 10th board on the offensive end to help the Nuggets stay ahead of the Grizzlies. Westbrook’s energy and playmaking was tremendous tonight, and the Nuggets don’t win this game without him.

The Nuggets had to weather the storm of an extremely physical game. They committed 29 fouls, allowed 19 offensive rebounds, and the Grizzlies shot 31 free throws. Without Jokic, Denver rarely has the physicality advantage, and the Grizzlies tried to press that button just like they did on Sunday.

Tonight, the Nuggets were far more resilient and prideful, battling against a tough defensive group and delivering as many physical possessions as the Grizzlies dished at them. The battles between the two teams were bordering on flagrant at times. Maybe it’s because they truly love competing for the NBA Cup…or maybe it’s because they just played on Sunday.

Either way, the Nuggets fought through it, and it happened with everyone playing a part. Vlatko Cancar had some solid early minutes (before he exited due to a left knee injury). Christian Braun had 19 points, seven rebounds, two assists, and three steals, thoroughly outplaying Desmond Bane. The star shooting guard for the Grizzlies had just five points, hitting 1-of-10 from the field and logging a -24 in the plus-minus. Braun shut him down entirely.

Dario Saric started again for the Nuggets tonight and struggled with foul trouble. He hit an early three-pointer but barely played in the first three quarters. He got back out there in the fourth and wasn’t perfect, but he hit the biggest shot of the night off a kickout from Murray.

Peyton Watson made big plays too with 15 points, five rebounds, and two stocks. He dealt with foul trouble too, but his consistency over the time that he’s been in the starting lineup for Aaron Gordon has been really impressive. Watson hit multiple threes but didn’t settle for them in important moments, playing great defense as well.

Showing some Fight

The Nuggets needed this one. It was a great win, and it happened because everyone stepped up.

Let’s begin with Michael Malone. I don’t think Malone coached a great game on Sunday. It’s easy to say in hindsight, but the team didn’t play with a lot of belief. Malone has to instill the group with that, and he was great about it tonight. The rotations were impressive, going to Trey Alexander as the first sub off the bench and using shorter bursts of play time for starters among many interesting wrinkles. More than that though, it was the constant talks he was having with Murray, with Christian Braun, and everyone that he could possibly chat with. He was in the ear of everyone tonight, and that doesn’t go unnoticed.

It was also Malone’s 432nd win of his Nuggets tenure, tying the great Doug Moe for franchise victories. Malone earned tonight’s victory, and he has earned many to start this season with what I think has been his best coaching job of the past half decade so far.

Malone will never get a lot of the credit. He will always get a significant portion of blame. He’s a great coach through it all, and Friday could be an awesome moment for him if the Nuggets can get the job done.

Lastly, Jamal Murray. I’ve been hard on him for the past week or so. The expectations for him are high, and he was failing to reach those expectations, the burden of leadership without Nikola Jokic, in the previous two games.

Tonight, Murray started 0-of-3 from three-point range and had a couple bad turnovers from indecision. Rather than turtling up and going into his shell, he continued to let it fly, first getting involved in transition, then getting the threes to go, then getting some shots off the dribble. It was a great display of shotmaking when the Nuggets needed it most.

Does the efficiency matter? A bit. What matters more to me is the intent and the desire to take ownership of this team. Murray’s in his ninth season, and with as much burden as Jokic generally carries, Murray can shoulder some of that too. When Jokic is out, the team needs to look somewhere. Why not look to Murray?

This will be an ongoing conversation. Nothing is “solved” with one impressive performance. Hopefully Murray can string together a few of these in a row and give the rest of the Nuggets a pillar to lean on for a while.

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