The Denver Nuggets are undefeated after grinding out a win on the road against the Los Angeles Clippers to kick off the 2018-19 NBA season. They played with an extreme level of defensive energy, had a strong game from Nikola Jokic, took about a bajillion free throws, and came away with a 107-98 victory in the city of angels over the Clippers.
Here are five takeaways from Denver’s win.
Nuggets play with great defensive energy
The most surprising piece of the Nuggets grind-it-out win over the Clippers was that it was done with effortful defense and not an offensive bombardment.
Without a doubt, the biggest issue when analyzing the Nuggets is their inability to play strong defense. Last night, they fought back against that perception and battled on defense for all 48 minutes. Sure, Los Angeles managed to have a couple offensive runs throughout the night, but it was not because Denver stopped playing hard when defending.
Thanks to all of the urgency that Denver played with, they held the Clippers to a measly 39.8 percent shooting from the floor and 28.6 percent from three-point distance. That is a massive difference compared to last year when Denver allowed opponents to shoot 47.6 percent from the field and a flame-throwing 37.8 percent from the three-point line.
It appears that Denver altering their defensive schemes to be more aggressive was the right decision by head coach Michael Malone. While getting into passing lanes and pressuring ball handlers just fits the roster better than playing conservatively, the other side of the coin is that playing more aggressively also keeps players more engaged. It’s hard to give maximum effort when you’re constantly not involved in the play. Allowing Jokic to hedge out to the three-point line kept him engaged. Allowing Gary Harris to stunt down off of his man kept him engaged. It may seem trivial, but keeping players who have a hefty offensive burden engaged on defense is harder than it appears, but through one game, everyone on the Nuggets looked like a more dedicated defender.
Paul Millsap filling in the gaps
Many people will look at the box score from the Nuggets win over the Clippers and complain about Millsap’s less-than-stellar shooting performance. There is no fault in that, but it is disingenuous to look at Millsap’s shooting splits as his only impact on the game.
Yes, Millsap was only 1-7 shooting and did not hit his first bucket until there was less than two minutes remaining in the game, but Millsap was not brought to Denver to score 20+ points per game. Millsap is being paid by the Nuggets to fill in the gaps and be the ‘glue-guy’ who rounds out the Nuggets starting unit. From that perspective, Millsap was arguably the Most Valuable Player for Denver last night.
Millsap managed to get to the free-throw line a game-high 12 times against the Clippers and hit nine of them. Millsap also had a game-high 16 rebounds with three of those boards coming on the offensive end. Millsap was also probably the most impactful defender in the game as well and finished with a steal and a block by the time the final buzzer sounded. He was flying around and causing chaos defensively at every possible moment and played within himself on offense.
People will complain about Millsap’s scoring output for the majority of the season, but if Millsap is able to defend, rebound, and keep the ball moving like he did against the Clippers, Denver will be significantly better because of it.
Nikola Jokic: the silent assassin
Against the Clippers, Nikola Jokic was not the fulcrum of the offense in the way that people are used to. He was not directing traffic, punishing mismatches, whipping around passes that would make Magic Johnson smile, or even attacking the glass with his typical effortless ferocity. To put it plainly, Jokic did not look like his best self.
But then, when looking at the box score after the final buzzer sounded, there it was. Jokic put up a game-high 21 points to go with eight rebounds, five assists, one steal, and one block. He also shot 6-13 from the field and 8-10 from the free throw line and only had two turnovers all night. That got me thinking; has Jokic become so good that when he puts up 21 points, eight rebounds, and five assists in a win, it is looked at as a less-than-ideal performance? It seems the answer is yes.
This was not even close to one of Jokic’s better games as a pro, and that is a good thing. If this is Jokic not at his best, the Nuggets are in very good shape for the rest of the season.
Free throw bonanza
The new emphasis on freedom of movement fouls already reared its ugly head. There have been far more foul calls and the fluidity of the game has disappeared. Between the Nuggets and Clippers, there were a total of 66 free throws taken and 54 fouls called in just one singular 48-minute game.
While the foul calls must drive fans, coaches, and player mad, the Nuggets are actually built extremely well to exploit these freedom of movement calls. All of the off-ball actions that Denver runs puts defenders at an extreme disadvantage as they attempt to chase hyper-atheitc guards around the perimeter. Jokic, who has a plethora of post moves and courter moves, does a wonderful job of getting defenders leaning one way before spinning in the opposite direction which leaves the defender reaching to slow Jokic. For these reasons, and many others, Denver was able to get to shoot free throws 42 times and outscored the Clippers by 13 points from just the foul line.
While these rules were supposed to be emphasized throughout the preseason so that officials knew better how to enforce them, they are now becoming a very real issue throughout the entire league. For now, it seems that Denver can use the rules to there benefit, but the way these fouls are called will likely evolve as the season goes along and Denver will have to eventually adapt once again.
Jamal Murray struggles in opener
Jamal Murray did not have the opening night he was looking for. In 31 minutes, he had seven points, five rebounds, and three assists and shot just 3-12 from the field and 1-4 from three-point distance.
The reason for Murray’s struggles is the same reason that he has struggled in the past — he does not deal with aggressive on-ball defense well. Patrick Beverley made life unbelievably difficult for Murray on and off the ball and he was never able to find a rhythm. It got so bad that Will Barton ended up taking up most of the point guard responsibilities to allow Murray to try and get free off the ball.
To be fair, Murray played arguably the best defense of his NBA career against the Clippers and did a phenomenal job of pressuring ball handlers himself. Without him containing penetration on the perimeter, Denver likely does not come away with a victory. Still, Denver needs Murray’s offensive output to become the best version of themselves. Look for Murray to come out much more aggressive against the Phoenix Suns on Saturday night.
