Starting the season 11-10 is not what a championship hopeful wants. Ideally, a team starts well and continues to thrive throughout the season. Despite the poor start, the Denver Nuggets have seemingly turned a corner. They have won two straight games, both coming in blowout victories. After a tough loss to a bad and injured Washington Wizards squad, they have bounced back and look like a well-oiled machine.
The Denver Nuggets Have Turned a Corner
Not as Reliant on Jokić
Nikola Jokić is putting up career highs in several categories to start the season. He has been more than incredible, and despite that, the Nuggets were still losing games. It was mainly due to the team being too reliant on him putting up monster numbers to have a chance to win. Some of that was due to injuries to both Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon. Those injuries tested their depth, showing their bench unit was lackluster, especially offensively. It gave head coach Michael Malone a better understanding of how players fit on the team and which players to trust now that the team is healthy.
After dropping a career-high 56 points and 48 the following game, the Nuggets finally dominated a team without needing Jokić to put up a ridiculous stat line. On Friday, they had six players score in double-digits led by Murray with 20. They cruised to a 120-98 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers with production from every player in their rotation. Every player who played over five minutes finished with a positive plus/minus of at least eight. This follows a 30-point blowout over the Atlanta Hawks where the team played well alongside an incredible game from Jokić.
If the Nuggets can perform well while Jokić has a career season, it will likely lead to another top seed for the Nuggets and potentially another deep playoff run. They are getting consistent play from Christian Braun and Michael Porter Jr. and have revitalized Russell Westbrook‘s late-game career. As their chemistry grows, they could develop back into the championship team they have been expected to be.
Jamal Murray is Showing Flashes of Former Self
Murray has received some backlash for his poor start to the season. Despite his poor start, he needed a breakout game where he showed he could still be his former self. Although he didn’t light up the box score, he showed exactly that on Friday. He was hitting shots he has struggled with this season, including an acrobatic reverse layup. He finished the game shooting 50% from the field and 40% from three with a game-high 20 points.
Murray has especially struggled on defense starting the season. Despite averaging 1.5 steals per game, a career-high, he has often looked lazy on that side of the floor. He has allowed players to drive by him to the hoop easily. Friday was a completely different story. He only allowed his opponents to shoot 38.5% from the field while he was the primary defender. He also forced his opponents to shoot 22.2% from three, the best on the team. He led the team with four steals as well.
The Nuggets will need Murray to continue his stellar play on defense, and it will lead to increased confidence on offense. If Murray can consistently play well on the defensive side of the ball, eventually his offense will catch up. He is having his worst shooting splits since his rookie season, but a great game in a blowout victory could be exactly what he needs to get back on track.
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