Five Nuggets for number of steals (and stitches) Paul Millsap collected in a 103-101 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
1. Paul Millsap really wants to win. He might not get the same lift on dunks as he did five years ago, but his desire is unchanged. How many other four-time All-Stars in their 13th season slide over and try to take that charge with a forehead full of stitches?
It was a bang-bang play, and though the call didn’t go in Denver’s favor, Millsap’s effort was admirable. Towns missed the free throw, and the Nuggets hung on to win thanks largely to Millsap’s gutsy performance.
Millsap tied a season-high 25 points on just 13 field-goal attempts. He hit 10 of his first 11 shots and was up to 23 midway through the third quarter before catching a Towns elbow to the face that forced him to head back into the locker room, stop the bleeding and get sewn up. Millsap returned with 7:02 in the fourth and came up big with a block, a rebound and a tough floater down the stretch that helped Denver avoid a three-game road sweep.
Defensively, Millsap got his hands on five steals and did a solid job wrestling Towns down low. Millsap guarded Towns from the opening tip four nights after Nikola Jokic drew the Anthony Davis assignment. Towns scored 22 points on 7-of-14 shooting, but Millsap made him work for it.
He was a stabilizing force during some shaky moments. Speaking of…
2. Late-game meltdowns have haunted the Nuggets lately. They blew a close one to the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday by committing two turnovers and going 1 for 4 from the field in what the NBA considers “clutch” situations (last five minutes of a game, score within five). They did a little bit better against the Timberwolves, but it was more of a white-knuckled win than it needed to be.
Turnovers are the Nuggets’ biggest issue late in close games this season. Coming into Wednesday’s game, they’d committed 21 giveaways during “clutch” moments — the most in the NBA. Jokic was responsible for nine of them alone and Jamal Murray five. With 2:26 to go, Murray committed number six trying to pass out of a pick-and-pop.
Denver needs to figure out how to generate better looks during tense moments moving forward. Murray and Jokic have struggled to get on the same page this year, and both have looked underwhelming in crunch time.
3. The Nuggets’ offense was supposed to incinerate opponents this year like Drogon did to those woefully unprepared Lannister soldiers, but we’ve only seen flames here and there. Will Barton’s injury has played a part in Denver failing to sustain rhythm for extended stretches. So has the fact that Denver is simply missing good looks.
The Nuggets canned 41.5 percent of “wide-open” 3s (any time a defender is 6+ feet away) last season, the third-best mark in the league. This year, they’re converting those looks at a 36 percent clip. Murray and Gary Harris are struggling with their strokes. Almost a quarter of the way through the season, Murray (31.5 percent) and Harris (33 percent) are still shooting the 3 in the low-30s.
Wednesday’s game a step in the right direction for one of them: Murray went 4 for 8 from 3, including 3 of 5 in the decisive third quarter, en route to 18 points. Harris, meanwhile, converted only 1 of 8 looks from deep but still scored 17 by getting inside.
History suggests their numbers should perk up soon. Maybe Malone should try whispering “Dracarys” to his backcourt before Friday’s game versus the Magic.
4. A pet peeve: the re-emergence of Jokic’s dumb fouls. I thought these were something he’d stamped out of his game last season. Lately, he’s hacking people at inopportune times. He’s picked up several fouls when he knows he’s about to get a breather. On Wednesday, he tripped Jeff Teague with 7.1 seconds left 94 feet from his own hoop.
Jokic knew the Timberwolves were already in the bonus. His foul was the last of 12 personals Denver racked up that quarter. Why foul there instead of just sprinting back?
Jokic is averaging 3.7 personal fouls per 36 minutes, up from 3.1 fouls per 36 minutes last season. Some are completely preventable.
5. If Monte Morris was a stone, he’d skip at least 10 times across the top of the water. If Morris was a bed sheet, British royalty would demand to sleep on him. What I’m trying to say is that Denver’s backup point guard is impossibly smooth. Also, I’m sorry for turning him into inanimate objects for the purpose of this metaphor.
Morris scored nine points and handed out four assists. He’s up to 71 assists and 11 turnovers overall. Malone is going to have some impossible decisions to make when Isaiah Thomas returns from injury.
