Malone on the Hot Seat? Takeaways From Nuggets vs. Heat
By Tim Hart
Nikola Jokic (17pts, 14reb) notched his second straight double-double in the loss, and seems back at home playing at the 5 spot.
His momentum is worth riding, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him replace Jusuf Nurkic in the starting 5 moving forward. Nurkic, who struggled against the Heat, scoring just 4 points yet turning the ball over 5 times in his 17 minutes of court time. Neither player has shown much ability in locking down the paint defensively, leaving Kenneth Faried as the team’s top paint defender.
Faried is undersized, and he doesn’t stand much of a chance when targeted by bigs in one-on-ones down low. However, his ability to fly into the paint as a reaction shot blocker shows his defensive value, which was on display against Miami. Faried ended with three blocks on the night, showing fans just why he is starting. In the absence of a true paint defender, Faried has at least stepped up to personally deny a handful of otherwise easy layups for opposing offenses, and until one of the Nuggets’ bigs can efficiently hold down the paint, Faried’s status as a starter seems necessary.
Neither Nurkic or Jokic logged a single blocked shot, and each player ended with three personal fouls. These young Nuggets centers have some serious stepping up to do, particularly on the defensive side of things, if this team is to turn around any time soon.
Similarly, Emmanuel Mudiay needs to play with a stronger sense of on-court maturity, which may not be a fair request, but also carries a sense of urgency nonetheless.