The Nuggets have been plagued by injuries this season, and they had one starter who had avoided that bug until he couldn't outlast it any longer. Jamal Murray left the game against the Knicks late in the second quarter with a sprained ankle, and his prognosis is currently unknown. But if Murray does miss time, the signing of Tyus Jones could look prescient.
Jones was added for veteran depth and steady ball-control for a Nuggets team that has been turning the ball over a bit more recently. He wasn't expected to see too many minutes. But due to Murray's injury, that could all change.
Jones saw all 12 minutes of garbage time against the Knicks while he gets acquainted with the Nuggets. He only scored three points on 1-4 shooting and had two turnovers, but the only person on the entire team to play decently in the blowout loss was, of course, Nikola Jokic.
Jokic had a strong night from the floor, making all but one of his two-point attempts on his way to 38 points. Unfortunately, he made only one of his seven three-point attempts as the Nuggets shot just 8-40 from downtown, good for only 20%. Yuck,
Jones will be a distributor if he sees court action
Jones is only two years removed from a season in which he averaged 7.3 assists and 12 points for the Washington Wizards over 66 starts. Last year, he made 58 starts for the Phoenix Suns. And in college, he led Duke to an NCAA Championship and was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four.
He's a pass-first point guard who is described in his scouting report from before his draft as someone "who rarely makes a bad decision." Jones is a capable replacement for Murray should Murray require any missed time. Let's just hope he doesn't.
The Nuggets got five minutes from the opening night starters
The Nuggets welcomed back Aaron Gordon in what should have been a celebration, but it quickly turned to misery as the Nuggets not only got blown out, but they got reminded of the virus that's mutated and ran through what feels like the entire locker room at this point after Murray left the court at the end of the second quarter.
It totaled out to be 5 minutes and 7 seconds of court time together for the opening night starting lineup. Pretty wild that's all it took, but not shocking this season. And it's unfortunate, because everyone keeps saying, "if Denver gets healthy." The giant if in the room just grew louder. Maybe by the time the playoffs roll around, it'll finally be silent. Hopefully.