The Denver Nuggets ride to a rollercoaster victory over Knicks
By Cade Walker
It was ugly, but The Denver Nuggets pulled out a win. They rose and fell, then rose yet again to close out the second night of a back-to-back with strength.
Tonight was beneficial for the Nuggets.
Not only did they pull out a win, but the adjustments made and minutes played were important all around.
Coach Malone ran with a 9 man rotation with Paul Millsap (quad) out for the night. There were some curious notes about that rotation.
Let’s take a look –
The Good:
Today, December 15th, is affectionately known as “Jok-mas” around Nuggets Nation. It’s the anniversary of Nikola Jokic’s insertion into the starting lineup, the ushering in of a new era of Nuggets basketball.
Jokic celebrated this day by posting a very quiet, but effective, 25 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists. His assertiveness during this game led him to take 22 shots, hitting 10 of them, including two of his five shots from deep.
Jokic's averages in the playoffs last year: 25.1 points (50.6 FG%, 39.3 3FG%), 13.0 rebounds, 8.4 assists
— Harrison Wind (@HarrisonWind) December 16, 2019
Jokic's averages over his last six games: 23.7 points (55.2 FG%, 35.5 3FG%), 10.5 rebounds, 7.3 assists
He's getting there
A surprising leader in the box score tonight came in assists. Mason Plumlee topped the Nuggets in dime totals with six. His efficient 14 points (six made on eight shots) led the bench unit to be effective overall.
Michael Porter Jr. played like a rookie with very high upside. Michael Malone left him in to play in high leverage minutes. He gained experience while adding a formidable presence on the glass with 8 rebounds, 4 of them on offense.
Will Barton‘s 9 rebounds were immensely important down the stretch as well. His driving ability is something that the Nuggets lack elsewhere. It’s been absolutely vital to the Nuggets offense this year, which is something that almost no one foresaw. This is backed up by his RAPTOR ranking (6th), and ESPN’s RPM Ranking (8th)
Will Barton is better than I thought and I was as high on him as anyone. This has been an unbelievable first 25 games for him.
— Adam Mares (@Adam_Mares) December 16, 2019
Even with the good things we witnessed this game, there was also some not-so-good. There’s definitely a balance here. Some things definitely went wrong when we had a 13 point deficit in a quarter against the Knicks.