DNVR Player Grades: Nuggets blow another big lead but hang on for fifth straight win

The Denver Nuggets entered Friday night’s division showdown with the Minnesota Timberwolves hoping to complete their first 5-0 home stand since 2012. With No Karl-Anthony Towns in the lineup, the Nuggets were favored by ten at the tip—but in classic 2019-20 Nuggets’ fashion, they failed to complete the blowout as a once 19-point lead shrank down to 2 with 05:23 remaining in the third quarter.

“It’s a mystery,” head coach Michael Malone told the media after the game when asked what’s at the heart of their propensity to blow big leads, “I think it speaks to our maturity a little bit, where we get these big leads and all of a sudden we let go like, ‘Oh we got this.'”
The lack of completeness notwithstanding, the Nuggets did hold onto the lead and pushed it back up to nine as they notched a 109-100 victory at home. Jamal Murray was on fire, Nikola Jokić recorded his 33rd career triple-double, and all five starters finished the game in double-digits.

Let’s go to the grades.

Honor Roll

Jamal Murray – A

Murray is heating up. One game after he dropped 33 on the Orlando Magic, Murray went for 28 with six rebounds and five assists in 36 minutes on the court. Murray was “shot-ready” as his coach has called for him to be, knocking down three of six three-point attempts, and playing off of Jokić masterfully. His performance featured more than one of his budding signature shots from mid-range—shooting off-balance and contorting his body to square up while in the air—but it also featured glimpses of exactly what one hopes to see out of Murray. Per NBA.com’s advanced stats, 12 of Murray’s 19 shots came either at the rim or from beyond the arc—six apiece, in fact. He also took and made seven free throws.

Murray shot when the Wolves when under, and drove with conviction when they fought over the top. He was shot-ready off-ball, and under control with the ball in his hands. It was one of his best performances of the season.

Nikola Jokić – A

Nikola Jokić is a miracle. The 24 year-old-center recorded his fifth triple-double of the year and 33rd of his young career, moving him into a 10th place tie with Bob Cousy on the All-Time list. Jokić knocked down 10 of his 16 shots on the night, finishing with 22 points while adding ten rebounds and ten assists. Quick note: Jokić was 2-4 from deep on Friday night, raising his three-point percentage to 45.8% on 4.8 attempts per game throughout this home stand. Is Jokić finding his touch from outside?

The Class

Will Barton III – B

Barton III played what might have been his worst game of the season as a ball-handler on Friday night. He coughed the ball over five times while recording just two assists in his 33 minutes on the court, but all told he put forth another strong performance. He finished with 13 points on 6-of-11 from the field, added four rebounds and played solid defense.

Paul Millsap – B

It was quiet night from one of the quietest All-Stars in the league. Millsap played just 24 minutes and took only eight shots, but he hit five of them while adding four rebounds and three assists. There wasn’t much to write home about from Millsap’s performance, but he was reliable, which is the seeming floor this season for the 14-year vet.

Malik Beasley – B

For the second game in a row, we saw some minutes from a player who had looked banished to the end of the bench just a week ago. Malik Beasley was the only player on Denver’s second unit to finish with a positive +/- (+12) and knocked down two of his four attempts from deep.

Gary Harris – B-

Friday night featured an on-brand performance from the new iteration of Gary Harris. He was pretty limited offensively, scoring just 11 points on nine shots while recording only two assists and missing all four of his free throws. But the real ones know on which end of the court they can find Harris’ value and contributions to the 19-8 start. ‘First Team’ lived up to his name again on Friday night, generating three steals and playing the role of the proverbial thorn in the side of Minnesota’s backcourt.

Michael Porter Jr. – C+

Michael Porter Jr. played over 10 minutes for the sixth time this season and the second time this homestand. He went 1-of-6 from the field with a couple of ugly misses, including an airball from the left wing that turned into an unintentional assist to Monte Morris. He also came within inches of landing on the wrong end of an Andrew Wiggins poster after getting overpowered (and possibly fouled) toward the basket. Over the five-game homestand, Porter Jr. scored 21 points in 45 minutes but shot just 9 of 23 from the field and 2 of 9 from behind the arc. He was also a team-worst -15 overall. Still, you get the sense that these growing pains are valuable for the young rookie and inch him ever so slowly closer to getting over a hump.

Principal’s Office

No one. The bench wasn’t great in this one—what else is new?—but it’s hard to dissect their performance and point out the broken pieces. Monte Morris was fine. Mason Plumlee was fine. The sum of their parts wasn’t great, but it was good enough to keep the lead afloat and let the starters go to work.

Game Ball