Nuggets Game Grades: Paul Millsap catches fire in Denver debut

Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone may have been half-joking at practice Thursday when he said that his team “kind of owns the Warriors” when asked about Denver’s first preseason opponent, but in Malone’s defense over the past year this version of the Nuggets has made life difficult for the reigning champs every time they’ve matched up.

It’s preseason and the games don’t count. But Denver’s 108-102 win over Golden State has to leave Malone happy and Paul Millsap thrilled that he decided to head West to Denver this summer.

Millsap, who signed a three-year $90 million contract with the Nuggets this offseason, led Denver with 22 points, 14 of which came in a thrilling third quarter where the big man hit four threes. He looked comfortable in the flow of Denver’s offense after a shaky first quarter and paired with Jokic well at times. Millsap also registered a game-high 11 rebounds in just 25 minutes.

Here’s how the rest of Denver’s roster faired:

Jamal Muray: B

After a training camp where all the talk centered around Emmanuel Mudiay and the strides he made this offseason, Murray started Denver’s first preseason matchup and although he got off to a rusty start, he shined in spots and showed some of the same flashes of the player he was last season. Murray had a couple of good reads in the pick-and-roll and put Nikola Jokic and Millsap in good spots throughout his 20 minutes of action. He finished with nine points and just one assist. It was a quiet debut for Denver’s potential starting point guard who will likely cede the starting duties to Mudiay against the Lakers on Monday — something that was planned this week at practice.

Gary Harris: B+

Tonight’s win was also a quiet game for Harris, who finished with just eight points on 3-9 shooting. He went 0-2 from distance but still did Gary Harris-type things on the floor. As always, Harris was in constant motion, either cutting towards the hoops, to space when Millsap or Jokic had the ball, or working with Jokic in dribble-hand-offs — an action they perfected last season. Harris is the glue that holds the Nuggets offense together and the guy who’s just good to play his part and nothing more. That’s going to be huge with a lot of mouths to feed in Denver this year.

Wilson Chandler: B+

Chandler, as expected, spent most of his time on the court at the three aside from a few possessions where he played power forward next to Millsap in the middle of the second quarter. Denver’s starting small forward matched up with Kevin Durant on the wing and limited the Most Valuable Player candidate to just 10 points on 4-10 shooting. Chandler in a sense represents something the Nuggets don’t have a lot of this year — two-way wings that can play multiple positions on offense and guard multiple positions on defense. His health will be critical to Denver’s success this season.

Paul Millsap: A

Millsap and Jokic looked clunky over the first two-quarters where they spent most of their combined 27 first-half minutes on the court together. They were on top of each other in the halfcourt at times and struggled with their spacing, which was something Millsap noted that they had to work through on Friday at practice. Millsap picked his spots carefully until a big third quarter where he hit four threes. Millsap’s an elite player who can get his own looks while also blending into what Denver’s doing on offense. He finished with 22 points in just 25 minutes, 14 of which came in the third quarter and 11 rebounds. A great debut for Millsap.

Nikola Jokic: A-

Just as Jokic struggled to get his touches when he shared the frontcourt with Jusuf Nurkic to start last season, he wasn’t featured extensively during tonight’s first quarter. But that changed in the next frame when Denver really looked to get Jokic going. He responded with a three and a quick layup that put a bow on a strong first half. On defense, the Nuggets played more aggressive than they did last season — a focal point for  Malone in his third year  — but the Warriors targeted Jokic throughout tonight’s game and he was exposed at times. Expect that to continue throughout the season. Jokic has to adjust his game on the offensive end with Millsap in the fold, but he’s smart and unselfish enough to do it. The 22-year-old scored 12 points on just 2-5 shooting and went 7-10 from the line.

Emmanuel Mudiay: B+

Expectations were high for Mudiay who entered tonight’s preseason opener on the back of a training camp where he was the talk of the team and in Denver’s first preseason game, he did a decent job of backing that talk up. First off, Mudiay was aggressive on defense and stayed engaged on that end of the floor for most of the night — something that wasn’t always the case a year ago. He was up and into his man and looked improved on that end of the floor. But Mudiay still had four turnovers in 28 minutes and took a couple low-percentage, leaning mid-range jumpers, the same kinds that plagued him last season. Overall, he shot 6-10 from the floor and finished with 19 points. The most surprising statistic? Mudiay went 3-4 from three. He’ll likely get his shot with the starting unit Monday against the Lakers.

Mason Plumlee: B-

Plumlee struggled to finish around the rim but had a couple good moments on defense where he displayed some verticality — something the Nuggets don’t have much of on their roster. He finished with a double-double; ten points and ten rebounds and really showed some nice synergy with Trey Lyles on Denver’s second unit. You’d like to see Plumlee shoot better than 3-7 as your center and he’ll try to be more efficient in Denver’s next matchup.

Trey Lyles: A-

Lyles, who’s been drawing rave reviews at training camp looked good in his first game with the Nuggets. He’s clearly Denver’s primary backup power forward and played 22 minutes tonight compared to Kenneth Faried‘s zero. He moved well on offense and it seems that his skill-set and athleticism matches up perfectly for what Denver wants to do on that end of the floor.

Will Barton: B

Denver’s primary backup shooting guard poured in ten points and finished with six rebounds as he helped make up a bench unit that ran smoothly against the Warriors’ reserves. With Mudiay manning the point guard duties with the bench mob, Barton got back to playing on the wing after running a lot of one last season alongside Murray.

Juancho Hernangomez: B

The Nuggets wanted to ease Hernangomez into training camp and the preseason after his run with Spain at the European Championships this summer and held him out of a practice or two this week, but Malone ran his backup small forward out there for a well-deserved 18 minutes. The 6-foot-9 swingman looks to be a fixture in Denver’s rotation which could top out at ten players if Denver’s staff likes the way things ran tonight.