Frontcourt schooled without Jokic
Peyton Watson learns from a rare start, Aaron Gordon plays heavy minutes at center
OKLAHOMA CITY >> Aaron Gordon isn’t trying to emulate the MVP he’s replacing, even if the ball filters through him more than usual when he plays center.
“I wanted to get to an overthe-head pass,” he said sarcastically Wednesday night after Denver’s late comeback fell short in a 105-100 loss to the Thunder.
If Gordon tried to replicate Nikola Jokic’s passing panache, it might go horribly wrong. But statistically and intangibly, Gordon does a pretty good Jokic impression when he fills in at the five, offering periodic reminders of his capability in that position when the Nuggets need it: during the playoffs.
He’s averaging three assists per game this season. In the second half at Detroit, he had seven — after Jokic got ejected. In the second half at Chicago, he had five of his six that night — after Jokic got ejected. And when Denver needed him to start at center in Oklahoma City with Jokic out (lower back pain), Gordon amassed another seven assists, along with 16 arduous points, 13 rebounds and four blocks.
“Jok needs some rest,” he said. “Every once in a while, fella’s gotta rest. Keep himself healthy. We’ve gotta be able to step up and hold down the fort, and I’m disappointed that we weren’t able to do that tonight.”
Jokic rarely misses games. When he does, the Nuggets can learn something from it. There are invariably two ways to look at a loss like the one in Oklahoma City. The no-moral-victories stance was the one the Nuggets took, agonizing over their five fourth-quarter turnovers and the Thunder’s seven offensive rebounds in the frame. There’s also some truth, however, to the notion that a hardfought game without Jokic can always arm his supporting cast with new confidence.
“We played that team tough the entire game, one of the best teams in the West, without our best player,” Peyton Watson said.
“That says something about our team.”
Take Watson as the prime example of the latter mindset (though even he lamented it was a game the Nuggets should have won afterward). In Jokic’s absence, Gordon moving to the five allowed the 21-year-old to make his fifth career start. Denver’s coaching staff informed Watson the day before the game. “It’s an honor to start for one of the best teams in the league,” he told The Denver Post, “so I’ll never take it for granted.”
He acknowledged that as he crosses the 70-game mark for his career, he’s still learning from every opportunity, every different lineup in which he plays, every game’s unique cadence — even every whistle. Watson and fellow defensive stalwarts Gordon and Kentavious Caldwell-pope shared the floor more than usual by virtue of all three starts, but Watson subsequently faced another new experience. Playing a starter’s minutes makes him more susceptible to early foul trouble, so it’s helpful to get a feel for how a game will be officiated.
“It takes a little bit more pressure off of me (to play with Gordon and Caldwell-pope),” Watson said. “Obviously tonight it was unfortunate. I got in foul trouble. That kinda sucked. And it always does, because it’s random. I have games like last game when I played against Giannis (Antetokounmpo), and I barely fouled, right? So I don’t know how I foul more in a game like this. There were some confusing ones. But at the end of the day, every game is a learning experience.”
Jokic missing the one-game trip also created an opening for Zeke Nnaji to back up Gordon instead of Deandre Jordan. Nnaji hadn’t played six of the last eight games. “He’s handled it like a pro,” Michael Malone said. “Not an easy situation for any player.” Nnaji’s first stretch of minutes off the bench was suitable. His second stretch provided a productive but harsh film sample, as the Thunder went on a 20-2 run primarily against Denver’s new-look second unit.
It spoke to a larger theme that permeated all 48 minutes regardless of who played center.
“Joker is so good that you can make some mistakes and he’ll make up for them, just because he’s so damn good,” Gordon said. “When you don’t have a guy like that, all of those little mistakes can come back to bite you.”
Like he mentioned two weeks ago in Boston, Gordon expects the Nuggets to play more lineups with him at the five once the regular season is almost over. For him, that’s the best form of playoff prep. Those lineups switch one through five. They look to run in transition more. They feed Gordon on the left block and demand him to see the floor like Jokic does. They seek out high-post mismatches, such as one of Denver’s first possessions Wednesday when Shai Gilgeous-alexander got switched onto him. They set up Gordon to be aggressive with the ball.
He anticipates being Jokic’s backup center when it’s time for Malone to shorten the bench. If the output in Oklahoma City was any indicator, Gordon can handle a few minutes per game in a different role, the same as he did last spring.
“I wanted that game for a lot of our guys,” Malone said after the loss, “but really for Aaron.”