Five Observations: The Nuggets continue to struggle on defense without Paul Millsap

The Denver Nuggets eked out a 111-110 win over the Chicago Bulls on Thursday at home. Denver trailed for most of the game but wound up edging the worst team in the NBA thanks in large part to Will Barton. Barton poured in a career-high 37 points. Here are five observations from the game.

1. The defense in the first half was atrocious

The Bulls came into Thursday’s game ranked dead-last in offensive rating by a significant margin. In its first 19 games, Chicago averaged 94.1 points per 100 possessions — a mark that was 2.8 points per 100 possessions worse than the 29th-place Sacramento Kings. You wouldn’t have known any of that by watching the Bulls’ first half in Denver.

The Bulls torched the Nuggets for 68 points in the first 24 minutes of play. They went 27-42 on FG and 7-13 on threes. They were hot from everywhere — but especially so from inside.

Chicago scored an absurd 144.7 points per 100 possessions in the first half, according to Cleaning the Glass.

The Nuggets have now played five full games since Paul Millsap went down with a wrist injury. When Millsap was in the lineup, they gave up 105.8 points per 100 possessions. Without Millsap, Denver is allowing 109.4 points per 100 possessions.

2. The point guards had another rough night

It’s difficult to win in the NBA when you get next to nothing from both of your point guards. Denver (barely) accomplished that feat Thursday. Jamal Murray went 1-9 with five points and two turnovers. Emmanuel Mudiay wasn’t much better, with seven points (2-9 FG) and two turnovers.

Murray’s struggles shooting the deep ball continued as he missed both of the three-balls he attempted. Murray is 2-22 behind the arc in his last six games. He’s down to 25.3 percent on three pointers this season. Murray was a prolific three-point shooter in college, and he possesses a gorgeous stroke. But when will the shots start consistently falling?

3. Will Barton saved Denver’s bacon

Will Barton had a simple message for his teammates down the stretch against Chicago: “I was telling my teammates give me the ball and get out of the way.”

Barton came out of the gates hot with 12 first-quarter points. He still had it going during the fourth quarter. Barton wound up scoring Denver’s final six points of the game. He went 3-5 on a pair of trips to the free-throw line. Then with his team trailing by one point in the final seconds, Barton drove and hit a funky twisting layup.

GAME WINNER. https://t.co/oEVt5X6JKf

— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) December 1, 2017

Barton’s 37 were the most points any reserve player has scored off the bench this season. The self-proclaimed “People’s Champ” saved the Nuggets from an embarrassing loss.

4. Richard Jefferson cracked the rotation

When the Nuggets signed Richard Jefferson to a one-year deal in October, they did so primarily to bring in a veteran leader who could show some of the team’s young players the ropes. Denver had a glut of guys capable of playing small forward with Wilson Chandler, Juancho Hernangomez and Will Barton already on the roster. There wasn’t much of an expectation for Jefferson to log rotation minutes.

The 37-year-old found himself playing non-garbage-time minutes Thursday, though. Chandler missed his second-straight game with lower back soreness, and Hernangomez was having a hard time. That cleared the way for Jefferson to get in there. He scored two points in 12 minutes.

“I’m not really an ice guy,” Jefferson joked in the locker room after the win. “My body’s like Wolverine.”

5. Juancho Hernangomez struggled

Malone decided to start the 22-year-old Spanish forward for the second game in a row. He plugged him into the lineup for Chandler. Hernangomez responded with a rough outing. He missed all three of the shots he took and turned it over once in 23 minutes.

We have enough evidence to know that on most nights, Hernangomez’s shot will fall. The biggest issue with him is his defense. Hernangomez struggles to stay in front of his man a lot of the time. He also gets blasted on screens.

The Nuggets need Chandler to return — especially if Nikola Jokic (left ankle sprain) can’t go Saturday against the Lakers.