Rather than being overused, Emmanuel Mudiay had his most efficient night

On a night that the Denver Nuggets were without Jameer Nelson, who missed Monday’s game because of a lower back strain, no one would have blamed head coach Michael Malone if he had asked his 19-year-old rookie (and No. 7 overall draft pick) to log a few extra minutes.

Instead, Malone kept Mudiay below the 30-minute threshold and employed shooting guard Randy Foye as backup point guard during Denver’s 108-104 home win over the Portland Trail Blazers.

Adam Kinney and Josh Dover of BSN Denver Sports Desk on Mile High Sports AM 1340 were impressed both by Mudiay and by Malone for the effort.

Kinney broke down the numbers and says Mudiay had his most “complete” game of the year, despite not putting up his highest totals. On the night, Mudiay logged 28 minutes (third-fewest in his short career so far), recording 18 points, six rebounds, five assists and two key blocks late against Damian Lillard. Most importantly, Kinney points out, Mudiay had just two turnovers on the night. That represents his lowest single-game total for the season.

Dover, meanwhile, found one play in particular a good sign that Mudiay is progressing as a play. On a fourth-quarter play that Dover says “everyone in the building, including the Blazers knew a pick-and-roll play was coming” between Mudiay and Kenneth Faried, the rookie had the foresight to see the defense pick up the play and step back into an open look for himself.

Earlier in the game, Dover was strongly questioning Malone’s choice to use Foye at the point. The desire to play Mudiay extended minutes in place of the injured Nelson had to be high for Malone. But Dover backed off that concern, though, when he saw what a focused and fresh Mudiay meant to the team. His defense, in particular, was strong in the final minutes and Mudiay controlled much of the pace of play as Denver fought hard to maintain a one-to-two possession lead as the clock wound down.

Listen to the full analysis of Denver’s win over Portland, including a topic that will soon catch fire – Kostas Papanikolaou vs. Darrell Arthur – in the podcast below…

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