The Denver Nuggets are coming off a victory against the New Orleans Pelicans and that is a good thing along with an outstanding 5-1 start.
The Denver Nuggets did however show a few chinks in the armor and struggled at times against a New Orleans squad lacking their star in Anthony Davis. Gary Harris said that “there’s a new vibe around the team” , and “That’s the point of it all, the wins.”
I agree and the Nuggets are 2nd in the West atop the division, so there is a lot of good to go around for the Nuggets. I however have to dwell on the concerns from the Pelicans game. At times the offense seemed to stall at the 3 point line. The defense despite a pretty good night looked lacks in keeping the Pelicans from scoring in the paint.
Thanks to great offensive stretches by Malik Beasley , Paul Millsap , and Jamal Murray. Along with a good night from Trey Lyles and yet another outstanding performance from Gary Harris the Nuggets offense showed enough to win. Jokic was again very Jokic like but not dominant in this game.
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The defense kept the team in the game in the first quarter and held onto the win at the end, but it wasn’t a 48 minute performance.
So moving on to the Chicago Bulls on Halloween Night the Nuggets will get a great chance to find their roles and rhythm against a team that falls behind the Nuggets in nearly every category. The Nuggets should be able to run their formidable offense(12th PPG) against their defense (28th on opponents PPG) and limit the Bulls (19th in PPG) with a defense that ranks 5th in the NBA in points allowed.
That being said the Bulls certainly won’t show up to the United Center with the intent of handing the Nuggets their 6th victory. The Bulls have shown an ability to score and gave the Nuggets all they could handle in the preseason.
The Nuggets will have to execute better on both ends of the court going forward then they did against the Pelicans if they hope to breeze by over matched opponents and compete with the elite. I have confidence in the players Denver has assembled to do just that, but I’m waiting to see it come together night in and night out on the court.
I’m of the opinion that Nikola Jokic must be aggressive and get in the post for Denver to truly have their offense rolling and that Jamal Murray must avoid freezing the offense on the perimeter when he’s manning the point.
The addition of Isaiah Thomas will be all so welcomed to the Nuggets offense when he’s ready to go, Will Barton is set to return from injury this season and we may even see Michael Porter Jr at some point.
For now though this squad must play “downhill” as Scott Hastings said on Altitude Sports, and stay vigilant on defense all game long to accomplish the lofty goals the team and fans have for this season.