It took a while to get fully on track, but the Denver Nuggets rolled the Los Angeles Clippers 120-98.

Jamal Murray led the way on both ends of the floor in his return from a hamstring injury, scoring 20 points while logging four steals and a block.

This was a defensive game tonight for the vast majority, and the Nuggets needed to lock in on that side of the floor while the offense worked through several struggles. Denver had 14 first half turnovers and looked wildly different offensively than they did when they scored 141 points against the Atlanta Hawks last Sunday.

“We built a 13-point lead and proceeded to throw the ball all over the gym,” Michael Malone shared postgame. “We were lucky to be up.”

Fortunately, the Clippers missed some open threes in the beginning, and the Nuggets eventually capitalized, clamping down defensively on James Harden and forcing nine turnovers. Murray was a big part of that, as was Russell Westbrook off the bench.

“I’ve had a good amount of steals throughout the season,” Murray shared of his defensive efforts tonight. “My defense has been solid. Obviously, Norman Powell crossed the hell out of me today, but other than that…”

This game didn’t feel like it was going to go Denver’s way when they turned the ball over nine times in the second quarter alone and gave back a double-digit lead.

“They’ve got a lot of defensive guys. They get their hands on a lot of steals, in the passing lanes. That’s the scouting report on them,” Murray shared. “I don’t want to say that we were surprised, but they play good defense and were in the lanes early. That allowed them to get back in the game.”

“We realized that if we can get a shot up, we can win the game.”

Denver finished the evening with 22 turnovers, but it was much cleaner in the second half until garbage time.

To go with Murray’s 20 points, the Nuggets had five other players scored in double figures. Michael Porter Jr. had 17 points. Nikola Jokic had just 16 in a low usage game for him. Aaron Gordon and Peyton Watson each had 14, and Julian Strawther had 12. It was a good all around scoring effort from Denver, and their offense could have been even better tonight. They shot nearly 55% from the field and went 26-of-32 from the free throw line against an undersized Clippers squad.

The Nuggets outscored the Clippers 72-51 in the second half, truly opening up the game. 36 fast break points helped tremendously with that.

Lastly, it’s important to mention Russell Westbrook. He didn’t have a good offensive game tonight, but his energy and impact on the defensive end served as a tangible reminder of his role for this team. The Nuggets waited a bit long to get him into the game in the first half. In the second half, he entered right around the six minute mark. Denver’s defensive intensity from when he entered to when he exited was what really flipped this game, and he was responsible for a chunk of that, leading the team with a +21 plus-minus in his 24 minutes.

Both Nuggets teams showed up tonight

No, I’m not referring to the offense and the defense, though Denver suddenly figured out a way to get both into the game tonight.

I’m talking about the two different versions of the Nuggets.

Version A is the team that lost to the Washington Wizards last week. The 22 turnovers emphasized that. Denver’s second quarter was really, really bad, hidden away by the fact that the Clippers missed some wide open jumpers throughout this game. In the middle of that quarter though, the Clippers went on (I believe) a 17-0 run. Denver spiraled into turnovers and missed shots on every possession, and they looked helpless for a while.

Version B is the team that beat the Oklahoma City Thunder earlier in the season. That’s the group we saw in the second half, relentless on both ends, playing more precise basketball, and not beating themselves against a good team. A 72-51 second half shows the Nuggets have that gear. They’ve had it all along.

So, which version is the real Nuggets?

It’s likely that they’re both teams at the same time. They’re the apathetic group that sometimes struggles to self-start and hold itself accountable. They’re also the team that locks in and looks like absolute world beaters from time to time. They didn’t even have to play through Jokic every possession to make that last part happen tonight. It was an impressive night from the entire team.

I have my doubts that Denver keeps this up over the long haul, but it was nice to see them show the defensive gear they need to show. It’s the first time they’ve held a team under 100 points all season, and it came at a great time against a conference opponent they’re battling for playoff seeding.

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