Focus shifts to Emmanuel Mudiay in Nuggets second preseason matchup

The new-look Denver Nuggets are in Los Angeles to take on the Lonzo Ball-led Lakers (8:30 p.m., ALT) looking for their second win in as many tries this preseason after beating the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors 108-102 on Saturday night.

The Lakers are coming off of 108-99 a loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Kyle Kuzma paced Los Angeles with 19 points on 9-12 shooting from the field while Ball was less than stellar in his first appearance for the Lakers, posting just five points, seven rebounds and eight assists in 36 minutes while shooting 2-9 from the field.

Here’s what to watch for tonight as the Nuggets look to move to 2-0 in preseason play:

Frontcourt still ironing out wrinkles

There is no doubt that the frontcourt combination of Paul Millsap and Nikola Jokic has the potential to be the best playmaking frontcourts in the NBA but there are still growing pains that they need to work through. For every perfectly spaced high-low pass from Millsap to Jokic, there is a clunky double-hi screen that discombobulates the offense. Figuring out the spacing between Jokic and Millsap is going to take some time.

Look for a larger emphasis to be put on getting both Millsap and Jokic involved in the offense symbiotically against the Lakers on Monday night. To overcome the hurdles that currently lie ahead for the Nuggets’ frontcourt, they need to play through their mistakes and get more live-action reps together. The more and more that Millsap and Jokic share the floor, the more comfortable each will become.

Mudiay time

The talk of training camp thus far has been Emmanuel Mudiay. With a mixture of front office personnel, coaching staff, and other players all raving about Mudiay on a daily basis, it is impossible to not to ask the question: is this the year Mudiay breaks out?

Mudiay’s performance against the Warriors was the first piece of evidence to back up the idea that he could become the bruising pure point guard that the Nuggets have been hoping for sooner rather than later. He finished with 19 points on 6-10 shooting from the field and 3-4 from three-point range to go with four assists and two rebounds in 28 minutes against the Warriors.

There were still bone-headed turnovers, double-clutch fadeaway two-point jumpers, and defensive mishaps but those moments were much less frequent. Instead, Mudiay showed off a jump shot that looks to be improved and pushed the pace as often as possible. He looked like a much quicker and explosive version of himself with a better understanding of how to incorporate his strengths into the Nuggets’ offensive philosophy.

Watching Mudiay orchestrate the Nuggets offense when he was on the floor just felt different than it had over the past two years. Confidence oozed off of him as he was adding a little extra flare onto his passes, even throwing a bounce pass between his legs in transition to get Juancho Hernangomez an easy dunk. He wasn’t looking for his own shot but instead looking to make the right play and take what the defense gave him. Mudiay was playing mostly under control.

Even more important is that Mudiay looked much more dedicated to the defensive end of the ball. His strength and length became a problem for the Warriors at the point of attack. When Mudiay is fighting over screens and overpowering smaller guards it changes the makeup of Denver’s defense. Even without a great fundamental foundation of how to play smart and team-oriented defense, Mudiay is able to be helpful just based on his physical profile if he plays with a sense of urgency on defense.

Mudiay is doing everything he needs to do to keep his name in the conversation for the opening-night starter at point guard. Malone is trading time between Mudiay and Murray so, as an educated guess, Mudiay will get the start against the Lakers with Jameer Nelson expected to miss his second straight preseason game with a sprained big toe. If Mudiay can build on his performance against the Warriors, the starting point guard position could suddenly be his to lose.

Millsap

Millsap showed a glimpse of how talented he is and how well he fits with Denver in his first preseason game, scoring 22 points on 7-11 shooting from the field and 4-6 from three-point distance to go with 11 rebounds, two assists and a steal in 25 minutes. He showed off everything from his elite post game, isolation scoring, and rained down threes to help the Nuggets stave off the Warriors.

Those numbers are great but what stands out is that he amassed most of those numbers in the third quarter alone with 16 points, seven rebounds, two assists, and a steal while shooting a perfect 4-4 from beyond the three-point arc in the frame. Millsap can fit into the Nuggets’ offensive scheme like a puzzle piece and is also fully capable of being relied upon for isolation scoring in the way that Danilo Gallinari was.

There are still growing pains to work through but the first look at the Nuggets $30 million dollar man resulted in many more positive takeaways and only a few, easily fixed, issues to address. Look for Millsap to take a step back from shouldering the scoring load against the Lakers and try to find his groove within the offense as opposed to being the offense. The spacing was, at times, clunky between Millsap and Jokic, which is to be expected, so the emphasis from here on out will likely be ironing out the wrinkles.

Nuggets new swarming defense

The Nuggets more aggressive philosophy on the defensive end of the court, that Michael Malone had talked about throughout camp, was on display against the Lakers. Forcing 14 turnovers isn’t bad but what really stands out is that Golden State shot just 4-33 from the three-point line. Yes, the Warriors were having an off-shooting night and it’s just preseason but the only way to get the greatest shooting team ever assembled to shoot that badly from three is to play defense with great effort and close out hard on every shot that goes up

Each and every Nuggets player showed a renewed vigor on defense and it led directly to a much-improved effort on that end of the floor. Mudiay, Murray, and Gary Harris were fighting over screens with reckless abandon while Millsap, Jokic, and Wilson Chandler were causing chaos helping up the floor and stunting down onto opponents driving to the rim.

The Nuggets defensive performance against the Warriors was a great start but the real challenge will be consistently playing defense with the same level of aggression and effort. The Lakers play a pass-happy style of offense and it will be interesting to see how impactful Denver will be on the defensive end. Another showing like they had against the Warriors would be a big step to establishing their new defensive identity.