Without Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, and Christian Braun suiting up, Russell Westbrook, Aaron Gordon, and Michael Porter Jr. stole the show on Monday night. The Nuggets seemed completely overmatched on paper, taking on the Warriors on the road who had won seven games in a row.
Despite the absences and hostile road environment against a red-hot team, Denver was able to lead almost wire-to-wire and steal a 114-105 victory. Russ led the way with a 12/11/16/3/2 triple double while Gordon poured in 38 and MPJ added 21.
Yet, the story of this game was as much about the players who didn’t play and the complementary players who were granted an opportunity. The Nuggets were coming off one of their worst three-game stretches of the season, but on Monday we saw a completely different looking team.
Malone finally realizing Nuggets need rest
Last season, the Nuggets spent the final weeks of the regular season chasing the Western Conference’s top seed. They exerted a lot of energy and wore down in the process. Jamal Murray suffered an injury and the rest of the starters were clearly gassed by the end of their second round playoff loss to the Timberwolves.
We’ve seen that when the Nuggets play their best, they can beat any team, any place, any time. But they have very little margin for ever and when they don’t play perfectly, they are susceptible to an ugly loss regardless of the opponent. They have a high ceiling, but also a painfully low floor.
Perhaps the night off for Jokic and Murray was a sign that the Nuggets have started to realize that they need to prioritie rest and keeping these guys fresh. If they lose games and fall in the standings, so be it. Seeding won’t matter if the team’s best players have nothing left in the tank for the playoffs.
Role players stepping up given opportunity
The other element of the game that surprised people was that with all the resting, we saw opportunities for players like Spencer Jones, Hunter Tyson, and Vlatko Cancar. They didn’t exactly look like stars, but they did look like competent NBA players, all finishing with around 20 minutes and making a solid two-way impact.
All year long we’ve heard how the Nuggets have no depth and no options off the bench. Yet, as soon as these guys actually get a real shot, they look good and they’re holding their own against one of the West’s best teams.
Without giving these players a chance, we’ll never know what Denver actually has. Malone has always been hesitant to trust young players, but he needs to do it in the regular season to find out if they could actually be useful come playoff time.
Even finding one more role player on the end of the bench would make a massive difference. At this point in the season, it may be too late to give anyone else real run to the point they’d be trusted in the playoff rotation, but the fact that it has taken until mid-March to even give it a shot is crazy.