The Denver Nuggets have been sneaky hot as of late, now winning three in a row, in addition to 7 of their last 9 games, following Sunday afternoon’s 112-101 win over the short-handed Mavs. Things are also looking up in the sense that Aaron Gordon has returned from his calf injury and was extremely effective off the bench in his first action since December 25th.
Gordon recorded 13 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, and a block on 6/7 shooting. He was not the only Nugget who was effective off the bench against Dallas either. All of the subs balled out and played well as a collective unit and one could argue that it was the bench that bailed out a below-average performance from the starting unit.
The Nuggets starters shot an abysmal 3/22 (13.6%) from beyond the arc and it was the epitome of what announcers call “having a lid on the bucket”. The bench unit on the other hand shot a strong 4/10 (40%) from deep and an efficient 14/24 (58.3%) from the field overall led by Gordon. The subs brought the energy on defense as well, securing two steals and three blocks.
The rise of Peyton Watson and the Russell Westbrook conundrum
While the bench did perform extremely well against a Mavs team not featuring Luka Doncic or Kyrie Iriving, there is obviously a caveat. Aaron Gordon, once back to his full health, will not be coming off of the bench. Whether it is Russell Westbrook moving to the bench or Christian Bruan making the transition, AG is simply too valuable to not start when it matters most.
There is an indication that Aaron Gordon will be on a minutes restriction for a handful of games as he ramps back up, but his +23 +/- off the bench won’t be there forever. Westbrook can provide the grit and physicality off of the bench that Gordon brought on Sunday, however Russ has also felt like a seamless fit with the starting unit, which coincided with Denver finding a groove.
Luckily, regardless of what Coach Michael Malone elects to do, Peyton Watson’s recent play helps raise the bench’s floor and ceiling. P-Swat has been looking more and more comfortable into the new year and has recorded a block in 13 straight games. He has seen 33+ minutes of court time in four of the last five games and appears to now be in Malone’s “Circle of Trust”.
Against the Mavericks specifically, Watson stuffed the statsheet, finishing with 10 points (connecting on 2/3 of his three-pointers), 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, and 1 block. He was also a game-high +30 in his 33 minutes, playing phenomenal defense and making clutch plays on both ends.
The Nuggets will shoot for their 4th win a row on Tuesday against this same Dallas Mavericks team they just beat.