Denver’s dominant defensive determination
Easily the biggest development of the Nuggets final preseason game was how much energy and intensity they played with on the defensive end of the floor. From top to bottom, each and every player on Denver’s roster gave every ounce of effort they had within them on defense.
The two defensive standouts were Gary Harris and Jamal Murray. Murray got his hands on five steals in the game while Harris was awarded with only two steals, but that number does not show how much of a bulldog he was defending on the perimeter. The best way to statistically show how impactful Murray and Harris were is the fact that they forced Kris Dunn and Zach LaVine into ten combined turnovers. By halftime, the Nuggets accumulated 11 steals while forcing the Bulls into 14 turnovers for the Bulls. Those 14 first-half turnovers equated to 19 points for Denver.
When the final buzzer sounded, Chicago shot 42.2 percent from the field and 27.3 percent from three point distance while turning the ball over 17 times. This was one of the best defensive effort that the Nuggets have had in the past few years. If Denver can replicate that tenacity in the regular season, the sky is the limit for them.
Nikola Jokic puts together a strong performance
The other positive takeaway from Denver’s victory over Chicago was that Jokic finally put together a strong game. Jokic had a strong first half against the Los Angeles Lakers in San Diego for Denver’s first preseason game of the year, but beyond that, Jokic has not quite looked like the dominant big man that he was in 2017-18. That all changed against the Bulls.
Jokic was back to creating great looks for his teammates at will, bending the defense however he saw fit, and scoring with efficiency, but the big difference was that he was much more involved defensively. He was hedging out on guards, containing on switches, and even contesting shots with aggression.
Jokic finished the night with 15 points, seven rebounds, five assists, two steals, and one block on 6-9 shooting from the field and 3-4 from three-point distance. Strangely, he missed two-consecutive free throws, but the biggest negative of his game against Chicago is an issue that has plagued Jokic many times in the past — turnovers.
Nikola Jokic and Paul Millsap’s preseason turnover issues
Turnovers have plagued Denver’s starting front court all preseason. Over the Nuggets five preseason games, Millsap has 11 turnovers against 10 assists while Jokic has 19 turnovers against 18 assists. For the Nuggets to reach their potential, the tandem of Jokic and Millsap desperately need to get on the same page.
If both Jokic and Millsap fail to fix their turnover issues, it could spell doom for a Nuggets franchise looking to claw their way back into the postseason after a five-year hiatus.
Denver’s bench unit was not sharp
The brightest revelation of the Nuggets preseason has been the play of their bench unit, but in the fifth and final game of the preseason, they did not dominate like they did in the previous four match-ups.
Against the Bulls, Denver’s bench was outscored 49-28. There were two separate stretches where the Nuggets bench unit was unable to get a shot to fall for more than two full minutes. They did play well on defense, but shooting 10-34 from the field and only hitting one three-point shot out of 13 tries is just not enough.
The biggest culprit of negative offensive play was none other than Malik Beasley, who has had one of the better preseasons of anyone on the Nuggets roster. He shot an atrocious 0-8 from the field and 0-5 from three-point distance. He did not register a point in the game against the Bulls in 19 minutes of action.
The Nuggets bench unit is not always going to decimate opposing reserves, but for them to struggle this badly was strange. Still, even with all the bad, it was great to see them play strong defense and that is eventually what allowed Denver to escape with a victory.