Preseason Takeaways: The Bones Hyland-Ish Smith backcourt is real

The Nuggets wrapped up their preseason slate Friday night in Golden State with a 119-112 win to secure a 3-2 record. Opening night is Wednesday in Utah. Here are five takeaways from a really interesting preseason.

Bones Hyland and Ish Smith together works

It’s always a storyline with this team: Can Denver craft together a second unit that’s capable of keeping the leads that the Nuggets’ starters will inevitably hand them in the first and third quarters? This season has been no different. And over the last couple of preseason games, a winning formula off the bench has emerged. It centers around an Ish Smith-Bones Hyland backcourt that’s cutting up opposing defenses.

I’m at the point where I’m going to say these two have to play together when the regular season opens. They’ve been deadly alongside one another in the preseason and have given Denver’s second unit an identity. It’s a dangerous duo that places two creators side by side. Both Hyland and Smith can penetrate into the lane. They can create offense for themselves and their teammates. They can make the defense uncomfortable. They put so much pressure on the opposition. They play with a pace and aggressiveness that just breeds healthy basketball.

Smith is probably the biggest riser of the preseason. You can make the case now that he should be in the regular season rotation.

Michael Porter Jr.’s offense hasn’t left him

Somehow, Porter looks like an even better shooter than he was two seasons ago. Let me remind you that this is a guy who shot 46% from 3-point range the last time he was healthy. His release looks quicker. His form looks smoother. There’s something here (more on this in Wind Chimes next week.) One silver lining to Jamal Murray missing most of the preseason is that Porter got to play extended minutes with Jokic and without Murray. The two definitely seem more on the same page now than they were when training camp opened.

Porter playing in all five preseason games is also very notable. My read is that the Nuggets aren’t going to be nearly as cautious with him as Murray. If Porter feels good to go, I think most of the time he could play.

His shot-making is ridiculous, and Porter still has so much more room to grow. He’s still learning how to operate within the Nuggets’ offense and what reads to make and when. But I’ve been impressed with how much he’s trusted Denver’s system in these last two games. He’s been letting the ball come to him and hasn’t sought out too many unnecessary jumpers, like he did vs. Phoenix last week.

Buy the defense

The Nuggets’ defense in the first and third quarters against the Warriors was impressive. Golden State scored 28 points in the first but just 20 in the third. That quarter was Denver’s best of the preseason. The Nuggets outscored the Warriors 42-20 in the third quarter on Friday. During those two stretches, you saw some special moments from this Nuggets’ defense that can clearly raise itself to a different level than Denver could in the first round of the playoffs last season against these same Warriors.

Denver stifled Golden State at times. And this was a Warriors team that played Friday’s game like a dress rehearsal. Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, Andrew Wiggins, Kevon Looney and Jordan Poole all played through the third quarter.

Bruce Brown has been great this preseason. His defense in Golden State was phenomenal too. This is the most well-rounded team Michael Malone has had and I can say pretty confidently that Brown is the best individual defender the Nuggets have had in the Jokic era. He’s the type of versatile, in-your-face, malleable defender that every championship contender needs. He can play in any lineup and guard a range of different players. He reminds me of Gary Payton on the Warriors last season. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has been steady defensively too. I’m buying Denver as a top-15 defense to start the season with the potential to finish in the top 10.

Jamal Murray will probably start slow

No one needed the preseason more than Murray, who hadn’t played in an NBA game in 18 months before he debuted against the Thunder in Denver’s preseason opener. But his hamstring kept Murray to just 1 1/2 games and only 28 total minutes. Now, Murray did flash in those minutes. His second-quarter run against OKC when he scored 10 points in the period and sunk a first-half buzzer-beater was great to see. But there’s obviously rust there. The preseason was an opportunity to get that rust off.

I don’t think his hamstring injury is anything serious, and I think he could have played Friday in Golden State. But my takeaway from how the Nuggets have handled Murray this preseason is that Denver may be even more cautious with him than I anticipated and do everything in its power to make sure he’s healthy for the playoffs. I just expect some bumps along the way, especially to open the regular season.

This team should be really, really good

These are the types of nights that get you believing. Sure it was preseason, but the Warriors wanted this game. They played their regulars. They played hard. And the Nuggets got them. The Nuggets withstood a ridiculous Golden State run in the second quarter when the Warriors went vintage and blitzed and overwhelmed them for a stretch. Denver recovered though.

This Nuggets team is deep, balanced, veteran-led, and confident. They can walk to a top-5 offense this season. They should be a top-15 and probably a top-10 defense. There will be bumps along the way for sure. The bench might be the biggest question. Malone needs to stagger his lineups this season, mostly because Brown is such a good fit alongside Jokic and Denver’s big three. He needs heavy minutes with those guys. Porter should get a try-out staggering with the second unit too. How Murray integrates with the starters and this team is another huge storyline to watch. But this team looks for real.

The regular season tips Wednesday in Utah. It’s time to get excited.