Recapping the 2021-22 season for the Denver Nuggets

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DeMarcus Cousins #4 of the Denver Nuggets high fives Bones Hyland #3 of the Denver Nuggets against the Sacramento Kings at Ball Arena on 26 Feb. 2022 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Isaiah Vazquez/Clarkson Creative/Getty Images) /

Recapping the 2021-22 season for the Denver Nuggets: Post-All-Star break run

This was fun. The Denver Nuggets addressed a lot of their issues with minor moves around the edges. DeMarcus Cousins struggled to shoot the ball after coming to Colorado but his defense and veteran presence gave Malone enough to fight while Jokic was on the bench.

Right after the Forbes trade, Denver went 10-5 up to the All-Star break and since the break, Denver is 14-8, well above .500.

Side note: this is becoming a bit of a theme for Malone’s Denver Nuggets. They always underperform to start the season and then make up for lost time after the break.

This timeline also lines up with the emergence of Bones Hyland. Once Malone gave the backup point guard duties to the rookie, essentially removing Facu from the rotation altogether, he added a shooting spark they simply didn’t have.

His game works well as a shooter off the bench but also with the starting lineup as a movement shooter who can score off the dribble.

On a 14 Mar. 2022 matchup against the Philadelphia 76ers, a game that many had marked on their calendars as a clash between the two MVP candidates: Jokic and Joel Embiid, Bones was the one who showed up.

Denver won by four points and bones scored 21 points off the bench with four 3-pointers and a +16 for the night. Philly thought this would be their first major win of the season after trading for James Harden and their night was spoiled.

LOGO 🦴 🦴🦴 pic.twitter.com/nTDp6ndSmG
— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) March 15, 2022

With the MVP playing better than he had the season prior, some solid shooters off the bench, Aaron Gordon fitting perfectly into his new role, it’s all coming together.

While on this run, the Nuggets front office re-signed Michael Malone to a multi-year extension, a well-deserved one at that.

It was a feel-good piece of news that just locked in another major piece of this team. Malone’s here for the future, Nikola Jokic has said he wants to stay in Denver for the rest of his career, and AG, Jamal, and MPJ are all locked up on long-term deals. Everything’s clicking and the future is bright.

But before we get too caught up in the future, we have a season to finish.

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