NUGGETS BEAT T-WOLVES, FORMER TEAMMATES
Denver handles Minnesota, spoiling returns of old teammates Beasley, Hernangomez
Sunday offered an early referendum on Denver’s trade deadline deal that shook up the locker room only weeks ago.
And the returns, at least from Denver’s perspective, were promising.
Gary Harris hounded Malik Beasley, now Minnesota’s starting shooting guard, and the Nuggets drilled the Timberwolves 128-116 on Sunday at the Pepsi Center to improve to 39-18. Beasley finished with 17 points on 6-of-13 shooting and eight rebounds, but Harris’ tenacious defense minimized his impact.
“You know, Malik, very lively, personable, talking a lot, and I think it was something where Gary, like he does every night but this one was a little extra special, having a chance to go out there and lock him up,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said of the matchup.
Denver was led by a seasonhigh 25 points from Paul Millsap, along with 24 points from all-star Nikola Jokic. Both feasted on Minnesota’s underwhelming interior presence, dominating inside as the Nuggets poured in 76 points in the paint.
“I watched a lot of film over the past two days, trying to figure it out, seeing how I can get better, trying to read (Jokic) a little bit more,” Millsap said. “I’ve been out of the lineup for a while, trying to get back in rhythm.”
Jamal Murray added 19 points as part of the Nuggets’ 58 percent shooting effort, and Harris’ 13points total included two 3-pointers.
Denver’s defense arrived in the third quarter after a leaky first half. The Nuggets held the TWolves to just 22 points as they swarmed and brought a physical brand of defense to the contest. On the other end, Millsap and Jokic continued to expose Minnesota’s frontcourt, eventually forging a 97-87 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Beasley was engaged throughout, fist-pumping and celebrating after several big Minnesota baskets. No one could blame him if this was a game he badly wanted to win.
“It was like practice. It was weird,” Beasley said afterward. “I’m mad we lost, honestly, right
now. That’s all I can think about it.”
He just didn’t have enough help, as Minnesota was without stars Karl-Anthony Towns and D’Angelo Russell.
The Nuggets’ loss Friday at Oklahoma City prompted questions about the team’s rotations now that the roster is as healthy as it has been in months.
“That’s the big question right now,” Malone said pregame. “Do you try to utilize the quality depth that we have, or do you say, with 26 to go, we’re going to really pare this rotation down? My fear with that is, by the time we get to the playoffs, we’re going to be on empty. And then I don’t want to just get to the playoffsthis year. We want to make a deep run.”
The bench scored 40 points, led by resounding efforts from Monte Morris, Jerami Grant and Mason Plumlee. All three gave shape and cohesion to the reserve unit as Malone continues to tinker with his rotations.
Sunday marked the returns of Beasley and Juancho Hernangomez less than three weeks after the Nuggets traded the duo, along with Jarred Vanderbilt, to Minnesota. Both were greeted with warm welcomes during player introductions, and that continued later during a short tribute video.
Hernangomez managed just seven points on 2-for-9 shooting in 27 minutes.
But Malone, reflecting on the move, believed the trade was more about circumstance than anything to do with their abilities.
“A thousand percent, those guys are talented players,” Malone said. “And they’re both getting 35 minutes a night or more, and they weren’t going to get that opportunity here. So it had nothing to do with them being good enough or not good enough. It was when you have a roster that went to the Western Conference semifinals last year and has great expectations on this year, it just made it a little bit harder for those guys to get the minutes that they were wanting.”