DNVR Player Grades: The Blue Arrow hits a bullseye in Memphis

Coming off his worst outing of the season—a 1 of 11 performance from the field against the Nets—you had a feeling Jamal Murray wanted to bounce back with vengeance from a rare off night on the offensive end of the floor.

He did just that in Memphis, scoring a season-high 39 points in just 31 minutes of action as he paced the Nuggets past the Grizzlies 131-114

Murray was in one of those zones in Memphis, the type of rhythm he’s found in some of the best offensive outings of his young career like the career-high 48 points he scored against the Celtics or the 46 he had versus the Suns last season. Murray opened the Nuggets’ date with the Grizzlies with 16 first-quarter points and would have flirted with a new career-high had Memphis been able to keep pace. Murray shot 14 of 24 from the field and 7 of 12 from 3 as he helped the Nuggets to their best offensive outing of the season. Denver shot 55.7% from the field, 56.3% from three and finished with a season-high 29 fastbreak points. The Nuggets’ previous season-high for fastbreak points was 20.

Despite Murray’s strong first quarter, Denver still trailed by four points after 12 minutes of play. But the Nuggets’ bench took over in the second quarter as Denver outscored Memphis 44-17 in the period. The Nuggets didn’t look back, holding a 20-plus point lead for most of the second half as Denver cruised to its ninth win of the season.

Let’s go to the report card.

Honor Roll

Jamal Murray – A

It’s the first time this season that a Nuggets player has scored more than 30 points and Murray could have had a lot more if he had played in the fourth. I loved how Murray let it fly from three today, which he hasn’t looked to do too often this season. He attempted 12 triples Sunday and wasn’t afraid to launch from distance as soon as he came off a Nikola Jokic or Paul Millsap high ball screen. The more he takes those types of shots the smoother the Nuggets’ offense has run over the last two seasons. How about this final stat line from Murray: 39 points, four rebounds, eight assists, and zero turnovers.

Paul Millsap – A

Defenses are going to have to start rotating harder to Millsap at the three-point line. Millsap knocked in two of his three long-range attempts today and is shooting better than 45% from distance this season. He finished tied for a season-high with 23 points and did so on just 11 field goal attempts. Millsap also had five steals which helped the Nuggets get out and run early and often tonight.

Juancho Hernangomez – A

Hernangomez has completely changed the dynamic of Denver’s second unit over the last two games. Plucked from the end of the Nuggets’ bench against Brooklyn last week, Hernangomez helped Denver piece together a come-from-behind victory over the Nets and in Memphis, he was at it again. He was a catalyst for the Nuggets’ bench in the second quarter and in his 15 first-half minutes, Denver outscored Memphis by 24 points. His spacing and willingness to move the ball had the Nuggets’ bench playing with pace in the half-court and the defense that Denver’s second unit provided allowed tons of transition opportunities. He finished with 15 points on 5 of 6 shooting and nailed all but one of his five 3-point attempts. It makes you wonder how the Nuggets let Hernangomez sit at the end of the bench for the first 10 games of the season after the impact he’s had in Denver’s last two outings.

Jerami Grant – A

Grant seems to be finding his footing with the Nuggets’ second unit and he’s even played alongside some of Denver’s starters lately. He’s been hit or miss from three this year but had a nice rhythm today, hitting both of his attempts from distance. Grant finished with 12 points, four rebounds and five assists in 24 minutes.

Nikola Jokic – A-

Jokic had a quiet night in the boxscore tallying nine points, five rebounds, and eight assists in 26 minutes, but he picked apart the Grizzlies all night long.

The Class

Michael Porter Jr. – B

The Nuggets may have found something with their new go-to bench lineup featuring Monte Morris, Porter at shooting guard, Hernangomez, Grant and Mason Plumlee. It brings length, athleticism, plenty of spacing, and shooting to the floor and worked wonders in Memphis. When those five were on the floor, the Nuggets outscored the Grizzlies by just one point in nine minutes of action, but there were positives to take away from the time that the group spent on the floor. First, off Denver scored well with that unit, shooting 58.3% from the floor and 2 of 3 from three in those nine minutes. Porter also looked comfortable playing with that lineup. They did turn the ball over too much (five times) and defensively that lineup is a work in progress, but it didn’t look like Porter was to blame for many of the Nuggets’ defensive mistakes during the time that group spent on the floor.

As Michael Malone put it last week, the only way Porter is going to improve is by playing minutes and working through his mistakes. He’s still finding his comfort zone on the offensive end of the floor too, but playing him significant minutes at this point in the season will pay dividends later in the year.

Mason Plumlee – B+

Plumlee, along with the rest of Denver’s bench, enjoyed arguably his best outing of the year. He finished with nine points and seven rebounds in 17 minutes.

Monte Morris – B+

Morris has looked like the backup point guard of last year over the Nuggets’ latest few wins. He played under control Sunday and tallied eight points and four rebounds, leading Denver’s bench to what could be a momentum-building victory for everyone up and down the Nuggets’ roster.

Game Ball