Barton shining on and off the court
It made sense that Will Barton slipped on a pair of aviator sunglasses inside the Nuggets’ locker room. The finishing touch of his latest head-turning outfit was a pair of rhinestone sneakers, with a sparkle that could blind the unprotected eye.
“Sometimes, I just like to stand out,” Barton said with a smile.
Barton’s fashion choices are like his game — full of flash and bravado. Perhaps that’s why he could so confidently bounce back from early-week failures with one of his best performances of the season against the best basketball team in the world. After missing potential game-winning 3-pointers against Boston and San Antonio, Barton scored 10 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter of Denver’s 115-108 comeback win against defending NBA champion Golden State on Saturday.
“I’ve got a short memory,” Barton said. “Miss those shots, move on to the next game and do whatever I can to get us wins. … I can’t stay focused on the past. I can only stay in the present.”
Don’t confuse Barton’s shortterm memory with a refusal to learn from his crunchtime mistakes.
Barton and Nuggets coach Michael Malone studied the final four seconds of last Monday’s 111-110 loss to the Celtics, when Barton grabbed an outlet pass, took three long-striding dribbles and pulled up from well behind the arc for a shot that didn’t reach the rim. Malone reiterated his confidence in Barton, but stressed that the “right play” would have been to quickly advance the ball to Jamal Murray in stride or to Torrey Craig bolting toward the basket. Less than 24 hours later, Barton fired a wideopen 3-pointer that rattled out just before the final buzzer in a 106-104 loss at San Antonio, then ensured “I’ll be back” as the last Nugget lingering in the visitors’ locker room.
Barton’s personal growth is part of the latest role change for arguably the most versatile player on Denver’s roster. Malone originally planned to use Barton as Denver’s sixth man, before numerous injuries — most notably to all-star power forward Paul Millsap — forced Barton into a bevy of spots. He temporarily moved to backup point guard during a January in which his field-goal shooting dipped to 38.5 percent. Now he’s starting at small forward alongside the backcourt duo of Murray and Gary Harris, which welcomes more freedom for Barton to make plays off the dribble rather than consistently set up the offense.
“He’s one of the few guys on our roster that can kind of break his man down,” Malone said. “(I’m) just trying to unburden him, if you will. … When he’s aggressive, when he’s attacking, that’s when Will Barton is at his best.”
Barton was hot early against the Warriors, scoring 13 of Denver’s first 29 points on 5-of-6 shooting. Malone began calling plays specifically for Barton, while teammates such as Harris, Murray and Nikola Jokic tried to get him the ball. Then in the fourth quarter, Barton drilled a pull-up 3-pointer that cut Golden State’s lead to 9794 with 6:02 to play, a go-ahead trey with 4:12 to go and a floater that put the Nuggets up 104-102 with 3:05 left.
“He goes out there in the fourth quarter and takes over . ... It was a great night for Will Barton,” Malone said, “and we needed that.”
It was a performance worthy of Barton’s flashy postgame outfit. Craig joined the crowd of reporters at Barton’s locker to snap a photo. Murray dished out a playful verbal jab from across the room, screaming “It’s nighttime, Thrill!” when Barton slipped on those sunglasses.
“It’s always sunny for me, ‘Mal!” Barton shot back. “You know that!”