The Denver Nuggets have started off much better than last year as they find themselves at 9-6, and in fifth place in the Western Conference. They are still working through the feeling-out process that teams usually deal with early in the season, which is to be expected when incorporating three new players into the starting lineup.
That could be the reason as to why there have been inconsistencies on the offensive end of the court to start the 2017-18 season, but — after having the strongest offensive game of the year on Friday night when the Nuggets put up 146 points against the New Orleans Pelicans — the Nuggets now look like they are getting back to being one of the most explosive offensive teams in the NBA with consistent progression on defense as well.
Denver is now up to sixth in the league in offensive rating (107.4), but what is most surprising is the improvement on the defensive end. The Nuggets are now 17th in the league in defensive rating (105.0), which is 5.5 points better than Denver’s 110.5 defensive rating from last season when they were 29th in the NBA. The improvement defensively balances the Nuggets out and puts them tied for tenth in the league in terms of overall net rating (+2.4).
After an impressive six-game homestand — where Denver went 5-1 — was the loss to the Nuggets’ division rival; the Portland Trail Blazers. Against Portland, Denver scored a season-low 82 points, but then a ripped off a home win against Anthony Davis, DeMarcus Cousins, and the New Orleans Pelicans. In the win over New Orleans, the Nuggets scored 82 points in the second half alone and put up 146 points, which is the highest single-game point total of the season.
Through the third week of November, there have been some highs, and there have been some low’s — so here is the good, the bad, the ugly of the Nuggets’ last four games.
The Good – Wilson Chandler is getting back to his normal self
With so many eyes on the frontcourt duo of Paul Millsap and Nikola Jokic, there is one player who has seen his numbers regress; Wilson Chandler. Since the arrival of Millsap, it has been hard for Chandler to find his groove offensively, but there is good news; Chandler looks like he is getting back to his normal self.
Chandler is coming off of three-straight games in which he has scored in double figures and still continues to contribute in plenty of other ways. Over the last four games, Chandler is averaging 11 points, 5.8 rebounds, and four assists per game while shooting 51 percent from the field.
If Chandler continues to contribute in a variety of ways — while also scoring effectively — teams will have a hard time slowing down the likes of Jamal Murray, Gary Harris, Millsap, and Jokic. Hopefully, Chandler’s improvement will get the Nuggets back to being one of the most exciting teams in the league on a nightly basis.
The Bad – Murray’s turnovers versus the Trail Blazers
Murray, while scoring at a significantly more productive level, has struggled to value the ball in the past four games. Murray has seven assists in the past four games, but has also racked up 11 turnovers in the same span of time.
In the last four games, Denver got to see the lights-out-shooter version of Murray that the Nuggets’ envisioned when they drafted him. Murray had a season-high of 32 points against the Orlando Magic on Nov. 11th, 18 points in the loss to Portland on Nov. 13th, and followed it up with 31 points against the Pelicans on Friday, but his decision-making has not been solid throughout the past four games.
Malone made the decision to shift Murray to point guard so that Harris was able to remain in his natural position of shooting guard. Now, Murray has to play mostly point guard, which has led to him having the ball in his hands significantly more often.
The role of point guard carries a different set of responsibilities. The point guard is typically thought about as a facilitator. When Denver played Portland, Murray had zero assists and also committed a season-high six turnovers. An assist-to-turnover ratio of 0:6 is not ideal.
Murray will need to start taking care of the ball if the Nuggets want to keep their offensive identity that made them one of the most exciting teams in the league last year.
The Ugly – Mudiay and his bad stretches
There’s no denying that Emmanuel Mudiay is in the midst of the best season of his young career. He is averaging 12.1 points, 3.4 assists, and 3.4 rebounds per game while shooting career-best 43.8 percent from the field and an insane 47.4 percent from beyond the three-point line after shooting just 32 percent in his first two seasons.
Mudiay and is coming off of a game against New Orleans where he recorded 19 points, six assists, and two rebounds while shooting 7-of-11 from the field. If you just looked at the box score, it appears that Mudiay had a good game, but a closer look tells a different story.
The Nuggets lead by 14 and Mudiay has somehow pulled off a -14 in just 9 minutes.
— T.J. McBride (@TJMcBrideNBA) November 18, 2017
There was a point in the first half where Mudiay was -14 in only 9 minutes of playing time. The Nuggets were up 35-10 when Mudiay entered the game, and that lead quickly evaporated — from 25 all the way down to just 11 points — within those nine minutes.
Those are the kind of stretches that have made Malone reluctant to play Mudiay for extended minutes. Mudiay cannot afford to have those kinds of stretches being that he is the only backup point guard on the roster. If Mudiay can display the same consistency he played with for the remaining 14 minutes of against the Pelicans it would go a long way to keeping Mudiay on the court.