Malone on the Hot Seat? Takeaways From Nuggets vs. Heat
By Tim Hart
Wednesday did mark the immediate return of Danilo Gallinari, who played decently, but still found himself slightly out-performed by fellow Nuggets SF Wilson Chandler.
Gallo ended with 4 rebounds, 4 assists, and 17 points on 6-16 shooting. That is okay but not great. Like Mudiay, Gallo fell back into some self-harming habits. His leading culprit is looking for fouls instead of buckets. When Gallo attacks the basket looking to score, great things happen. But, when Gallo attacks the paint looking for fouls, he leaves himself at the hands of the refs, who made it clear that Wednesday’s match-up would be a physical one.
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Like Mudiay, Gallo knows how to operate best as a player, and simply needs to keep his head on straight for the entirety of games. On the other side of things was Wilson Chandler, who once again played some great basketball, and made his case for being the team’s leader moving forward.
“Ill Will” ended with 7 rebounds and 17 points on 8-17 shooting. On top op that, three or four of those missed shots were genuinely good takes that simply rolled off the rim. Had a little more luck gone his way, Chandler could have easily notched another 20+ point game. He was off a bit from three-point range, going just 1-4, but still shot better than Danilo Gallinari, who went just 1-5 from downtown. No Nuggets fan wants to send disrespect Gallo’s way, but Chandler has made a very strong case for his viability as a starter for this Nuggets team.
New starting lineups seem to be in order for Denver, leaving head coach Mike Malone with a lot of decisions to make, and questions to answer. At the forefront of these questions sits rookie guard Jamal Murray, as his inclusion in the starting line-up (sans Barton and Harris) was not only expected by Nuggets fans, but embraced with optimism and excitement as well.
