How Denver is covering for Isaiah Thomas on defense, Gary Harris' immediate impact, and the Nuggets' Johnny Hustle

The Denver Nuggets are….road warriors? Maybe not quite, but Denver’s impressive season continued Friday in Dallas, as the Nuggets took down the Mavericks 114-104. With the win, Denver registered its 15th road victory of the season. How many wins did the Nuggets have away from Pepsi Center a year ago? 15.

It was a total team effort against the Mavericks. Seven Nuggets players finished in double-figures, led by Nikola Jokic (19 points, 13 rebounds, eight assists) and Paul Millsap (17 points, 13 rebounds).

Here’s what we learned from the Nuggets’ 40th victory of the season.

How the Nuggets plan to cover for Isaiah Thomas

Two games into Thomas’ Nuggets tenure and we have a pretty good idea of how Michael Malone will divvy up Denver’s available minutes.

The Nuggets are going to play a lot of small ball, especially off their bench. Friday in Dallas, Thomas played alongside Monte Morris, which he also did in his debut, and Gary Harris, who returned from a seven-game absence. The Nuggets were outscored by one point in the 14 minutes that that trio spent on the floor together, but should improve going forward once Harris gets his minutes restrictions lifted and finds his rhythm. Denver’s most-used bench lineup — a Thomas-Morris-Harris-Millsap-Mason Plumlee fivesome — outscored Dallas by three points in eight minutes.

Defensively is where Malone has his work cut out for him in terms of how the Nuggets will cover for Thomas, who’s been a liability on that end of the floor throughout his entire NBA career. The key will be to surround him with plus-defenders, which Denver doesn’t have an excess of.

Against the Mavericks, the Nuggets did just that. Thomas logged eight of his 16 minutes alongside Plumlee and Millsap — two of the Nuggets’ top defenders — and played 15 minutes with Harris. The Thomas-Morris-Harris-Millsap-Plumlee lineup posted a strong 78.1 Defensive Rating in five minutes together. In Thomas’ 16 minutes, Denver registered a healthy 102.7 Defensive Rating. Sometimes teams get so set on trying to exploit Thomas’ height that they get taken out of their offensive rhythm. The Nuggets were more than happy to let Mavs reserve forward Justin Jackson try and get his. Jackson finished scoreless on 0-7 shooting.

(Also, here’s a smart and quick double by Harris on Jackson in the post as soon as he receives the ball)

Offensively, the Thomas-Morris backcourt should be electric. Both lead guards can operate out of the pick-and-roll, hit from three, and put their teammates in advantageous positions. Thomas sunk four threes in his second game back after an 11-month absence and had a couple nifty dishes out of the pick-and-roll. He looks better and has more burst than I thought he would after missing 11-months This bounce pass to Mason Plumlee gave you flashbacks to Boston Isaiah circa 2017. Denver’s free agent acquisition finished with 16 points, sunk four 3s on 5-11 shooting and tallied two assists. He was a minus-four on the night.

It’s too early to tell how much Thomas will play down the stretch. He’s still operating under a 15-minute restriction, but I wouldn’t be shocked if he shoulders more of an offensive load once the playoffs roll around.

Morris tallied seven points (3-10 shooting), five rebounds and five assists but saw his playing time get cut into slightly by Thomas and Harris. The second-year guard finished with 19 minutes. It’s unfortunate that Morris’ minutes are dropping with how well he’s played and how smooth the Nuggets’ have operated on offense with the ball in his hands, but that’s life when a playoff-tested veteran like Thomas gets healthy. Maik Beasley’s playing time will eventually decrease as well once Harris ramps up.

Harris will move back into the starting lineup in due time, meaning Beasley will slide into the small forward slot off Denver’s bench currently occupied by Harris. Offensively, the Nuggets’ small ball second unit will still thrive but defensively it could a step back replacing Harris with Beasley. Maybe Malone tries to stagger his lineups to make sure Harris is playing a significant amount of minutes alongside his smaller second unit guards.

Gary Harris immediately makes his presence felt

Boy did the Nuggets miss Gary Harris. You forget that he’s Denver’s second-best player when healthy, Jokic’s favorite partner in the dribble-hand-off and has an Ivy League degree in defense. Few defensive stats show up in the box score, but here are some of the plays that he made on that end of the floor which shouldn’t go unnoticed.

Compare the rout Harris takes here to get around Salah Mejri’s screen compared to Beasley’s decision to try and go over a pick set by Maxi Kleber in the corner moments later.

24 seconds of defense on Tim Hardaway Jr.

Harris’ one steal on the night.

Above all, Harris is just a really smart defender. He’s silky smooth while navigating through screens and can lock his man up when he wants to. The Nuggets only allowed 95.8 points per 100 possessions with Harris on the floor Friday and on the season, Denver allows just 104.4 points per 100 with Harris on the court. With him off, that number balloons to 108.9 — the biggest differential on Denver’s roster.

Harris’ defensive chops make him the Nuggets’ second-most important player down the stretch behind Jokic.

The Nuggets’ Johnny Hustle

Jamal Murray didn’t have it going offensively. He struggled on that end of the floor, shooting just 5-16 from the floor and 2-7 from three on his way to 12 points. But Murray brought it on defense. He was everywhere, diving on the floor for loose balls and busting his butt back in transition on a bad ankle, might I add.

How’d he get back in this play?

Here, Murray forces Jalen Brunson into a turnover

Another hustle play from Murray. Part of me thought he might slap the floor after this one.

What about this poke from Murray that ended in a Millsap bucket?

Denver got off on the right foot defensively in its post-All-Star break stretch run. The Nuggets only allowed the Mavericks to shoot 40.5 percent from the field and 10-41 from three, an area where Denver has struggled this season. The Nuggets’ third-quarter defense, where Denver held Dallas to 23 points on 8-21 (38.1 percent) shooting, was superb.

Mason Plumlee (13 rebounds, six offensive rebounds) also deserves credit for his defensive play in the win. Plumlee was a plus-13 in 22 minutes off Denver’s bench and saved countless possessions with his work on the offensive glass while also chipping in 12 points. His standout season continues.

Malik Beasley also chipped in quality defense for most of the night on Hardaway, who only could muster up 13 points on 5-12 shooting.