The Denver Nuggets currently sit at 23-22 on the season and are now on the outside looking in at the playoff picture. They are now behind the Clippers for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. These last week featured three games for the Nuggets — one win and two losses — so I give you, the good, the bad and the ugly.
The Good – Malone’s lineup change (for a night)
After a 32-point dousing by the San Antonio Spurs that had Denver drop into a tie for eighth place in the Western Conference, Nuggets’ head coach Michael Malone hinted that there could be a lineup change. He ended up fulfilling the prophecy on Tuesday against the Dallas Mavericks which resulted in a 105-102 win. The change was Malone inserting Will Barton into the starting lineup to go alongside Jamal Murray, Gary Harris, Wilson Chandler and Nikola Jokic. While the change meant that Denver would be going small, while also allowing Jokic to slide over to his natural position of center, the position he’s played best at since entering the league.
Barton was ultra-aggressive in his time as a starter and he finished with 22 points, six assists, and five rebounds on the night. He shot the ball well, attacked, and had a strong performance as a starter.
Jokic had maybe one of his most active games of the year. He was assertive and got back to playing with flare. He finished with 29 points, 18 rebounds and seven assists in their win against the Mavericks. Ironically enough, with Murray out of the starting lineup on Wednesday against the Clippers, Malone went back to the lineup of Jokic alongside Plumlee and Jokic did not have the same type of success. Following the Dallas win, Malone insisted that the lineup change has nothing to do with the play of Jokic and it’s mere coincidence. You be the judge.
The Bad – Jamal Murray misses the first game of his career
In Tuesday’s win against Dallas, Nuggets’ point guard Jamal Murray left the game for a brief moment in the fourth quarter with signs of a concussion before reappearing later in the final quarter. While Murray was cleared to play against the Mavericks after taking the hit to the head, signs of a concussion began to appear on the flight to Los Angeles and; eventually, Murray missed the Nuggets’ matchup with the Clippers to end his streak of 126 consecutive games played to start his NBA career. Murray played through much of his rookie year with two sports hernias before undergoing surgery during the offseason and not even that could keep him out of the lineup. Nuggets return to Denver on Thursday morning and he’ll go through another evaluation and mental test before returning to physical activities.
The second-year Kentucky guard is averaging 15.4 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game and was missed in their 109-104 loss to the Clippers that put Denver in the ninth seed in the playoff race. Malone said there’s no chance he plays when Denver hosts Phoenix on Friday night, but it seems that Murray has been able to pass the concussion protocol tests and is now questionable to play against Phoenix in Denver on Friday night.
The Ugly – Lack of late-game execution leads to loss
Denver found themselves up 59-50 at the half against the team they were tied with for the eighth and final spot in the Western Conference playoff picture thanks in part to having only four turnovers. Their second half was a completely different story. They ended up with 19 turnovers and the last one error was the most crucial of them all.
While turnovers were an area of concern for Denver to close out the game, the Clippers had issues of their own. With less than sixty seconds on the clock, Denver closed the deficit to within four, thanks in part to Milos Teodosic mistakenly thinking the Clippers had a foul to give. He fouled Barton and put him at the free-throw line. Barton knocked down both free throws that got Denver within two points. On the Clippers next possession, Denver fouled Griffin putting him at the line and, to their surprise, he missed both. Malone called his final timeout and this is where things got interesting.
With one final possession, to either tie the game or win it, Malone drew the play up for Barton to isolate. He dribbled a few times and had a look at their best player, Jokic, in a mismatch on the block with Wesley Johnson defending him. Instead, Barton forced his way to the rim and lost the ball and was completely unable to get a shot off.
Following the loss, there were plenty of people coming out through different means of social media questioning Denver’s late-game execution and Malone’s closing decisions. Denver finds themselves in a great position to bounce back versus a struggling Suns team on Friday which will give them the opportunity to get back on the right track and get the taste out of their mouths.