Defense gets impressive tuneup during preseason finale
If Friday night’s preseason finale against the Chicago Bulls was any indication, the Denver Nuggets should have absolutely no trouble on the offensive end of the floor this season.
Their starters built a doubledigit lead before resting the entire fourth quarter, and coach Mike Malone rode his reserves to a 9893 win to finish the preseason 41.
At its best, the Nuggets’ offense was a dizzying array of passes, picks and cuts, swirling around the Bulls’ young defense. Were it not for a cold fourth quarter from the reserves, their shooting percentages (42 percent from the field; 30 percent from 3point range) would’ve been much more impressive.
Gary Harris paced the Nuggets with 18 points, followed closely by Jamal Murray (17) and Nikola Jokic (15). But the offense, with Jokic as its fulcrum, was never going to be the problem this year. The Nuggets finished with the sixthbest offensive rating in the NBA last season and the best overall offense from the AllStar break until the end of the season.
Despite how promising the offense looked, Friday night’s dress rehearsal for the regular season was most encouraging for what it revealed on the defensive side of the floor.
Filling up the lanes
Playing an aggressive brand of defense, guards Harris and Murray kickstarted their offense by swarming the Bulls’ guards and suffocating the passing lanes. In total, the Nuggets forced 17 turnovers, including 13 steals. It’s exactly the type of defensive performance Malone had hoped for heading into next week’s season opener against the Los Angeles Clippers and their pesky backcourt. Murray finished with five steals while Harris, Barton and Jokic had two apiece. Some of those takeaways could be attributed to poor ball handling by Bulls guard Kris Dunn (six turnovers), but the Nuggets’ guards forced the issue. It led to numerous runouts and easy transition buckets. The Bulls shot just 42 percent from the field, including 27 percent from three.
Typical Joker
Jokic’s final line — 15 points, seven rebounds and five assists — is an indication of what’s to come this season. Jokic, who finished fourth in the NBA last season with 10 tripledoubles, made it look effortless again Friday night. He rarely hunt ed for his shot, seemingly content to facilitate for others. The lone blemish was his five turnovers, which have been a problem all preseason. He’s averaged nearly four per game, mostly off clunky highscreen handoffs. He averaged 2.8 turnovers last season.
Rotational answers
The Nuggets’ depth is an indisputable strength, but it’s unlikely they want to play 10 or 11man rotations going into the season. Forward Trey Lyles was the first man off the bench, and he later saw some minutes with starters. After Lyles, it was Mason Plumlee and Malik Beasley, followed by Juan Hernangomez and then Monte Morris as the backup guard. The oddman out was small forward Torrey Craig, who’d hovered around 20 minutes per preseason game but didn’t see any action against the Bulls. The only solace for Craig is that he has had a standout preseason on the defensive end and Malone could easily tab him when the matchup presents itself.
The Nuggets are an elite offensive team that began showing encouraging signs on the defensive end of the floor Friday. We’ll have to wait until Wednesday’s season opener at Los Angeles to see if that translates to games that matter.