How the Nuggets got back to basics and started "having fun" again

Torrey Craig is no longer in Denver. But during his three years with the Nuggets, Craig left his mark.

Craig was an exemplary teammate. He entered the NBA as a 27-year-old rookie on a two-way contract but immediately proved that he was exactly the type of player that Denver wanted to build out its locker room with. Craig helped tutor then-rookie Michael Porter Jr. behind-the-scenes even though he was competing with Porter for playing time on the wing. With Craig, it was always about the team.

Everybody on the Nuggets’ roster liked Craig, who last offseason signed in Milwaukee as a free agent, and his selfless mentality was symbolic of how Denver’s 2019 and 2020 teams went about their business. Those teams played for each other and had an uncanny chemistry that was more akin to a college roster and not an NBA one that’s typically in constant flux.

Those teams also had fun, an element that this current Nuggets team has been in search of throughout a volatile first half of the regular season. Inconsistent play from everyone not named Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, injuries, health and safety protocols, and the omnipresent dark COVID cloud has turned this regular season into even more of a grind than usual.

But something flipped with the Nuggets over the last week. Denver has now rattled off three-straight wins, the third of which came Tuesday night in a 128-97 rout of the Milwaukee Bucks with the Nuggets undermanned and on the second night of a back-to-back. Jokic has scored 76 points over Denver’s last two wins on 63% shooting from the field. Jamal Murray has scored 20+ points in 11-straight games and posted better averages throughout the month of February than he did inside the NBA bubble last playoffs.

Murray said Tuesday night that something which helped ignite Denver’s offense against Milwaukee was that the Nuggets ran fewer pick-and-rolls. More ball movement has helped the Nuggets field the NBA’s best offense over their last five games.

“We’re moving the ball a little better than we were earlier in the season,” he explained. “…Less pick-and-rolls. We can always get to pick-and-roll. Any team can get to a pick-and-roll. But when we’re moving the ball, back-cutting, moving for each other, playing for each other. As you can see, we’ve got a lot of guys that can hoop.”

The Nuggets are now 20-15 and climbing up the Western Conference standings. With another win on Thursday in Indiana, they could enter the All-Star break as the fifth seed.

Denver’s also having fun for the first time this season.

“Having fun is the key to our success right now,” Murray said after the Nuggets limited Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks’ second-ranked offense to 97 points. It was just the third time this season that Milwaukee has been held under 100 points.

“We are playing for each other,” said Jokic. “Especially on the defensive end.”

A 2-3 zone, which the Nuggets stayed in for a lot of Tuesday’s win, deserves credit for some of the Bucks’ offensive struggles. Credit also goes to Milwaukee for shooting just 11-40 from the three-point line. It was the Bucks’ second-worst three-point shooting game of the season. But it was still a standout defensive showing from Denver, who was without four of its better defenders in Gary Harris, Paul Millsap, JaMychal Green and Facu Campazzo.

Tuesday’s defensive effort must have been a familiar sight to Craig, who played a key role in some of the Nuggets’ better defensive performances from 2017-2020 when he was in Denver. Craig made his mark on that end of the floor even though he wasn’t always a shoo-in for rotation minutes. If the Nuggets were playing an opponent with a dynamic lead ball-handler like last year’s Houston Rockets with Russell Westbrook, Craig would play a central role in Denver’s defensive game plan. On other nights, Craig’s minutes would be scattered.

Craig showed the rest of Denver’s locker room how to stay ready, something Vlatko Cancar has had to do this season. Cancar was thrust into the rotation for the first time all year earlier this week in Chicago. He played a career-high 20 minutes in the Nuggets’ win over the Bulls and chipped in eight points and four rebounds. Twenty-four hours later in Milwaukee, Cancar set a new career-high by logging 22 minutes. Cancar went 1-3 from the field against the Bucks and corralled seven rebounds to go with one assist and two steals.

Cancar also had one of Denver’s highlight plays of the night, a one-handed no-look pass to Zeke Nnaji on a Nuggets fastbreak.

Cancar no-look dimes? That’s fun.

“Watching Facu, I had to try it as well,” Cancar said of the pass. “If it was a turnover I’d probably go on the bench. The pass went through so everybody’s like, ‘Ah a no-look pass.’ It’s either you’re a hero or you’re a loser. So I guess I’m a hero.”

Against the Bucks, Jokic also landed his second poster dunk in as many nights. He finished with three total dunks Tuesday.

The Joker auditioning for next week’s Slam Dunk Contest? That’s fun.

“We expect that now,” Murray said of Jokic’s slams. “We expect it.”

The Nuggets also got a big-time contribution from Will Barton, who turned in a well-rounded 14-point, 8-rebound, 5-assist performance. It was reminiscent of how he stuffed the box score nightly for the Nuggets over the last couple of seasons.

A vintage Barton night? That’s fun.

Whenever the Nuggets’ locker room has gotten smaller over the last couple of seasons, Denver somehow seems to raise its game. There was “The Seven” victory in Utah last season. An undermanned Nuggets team without several starters also won in Milwaukee last year. If the Nuggets put complementary pieces who know their roles around Jokic and Murray, Denver sometimes becomes the best version of itself.

It’s what transpired Tuesday. Harris, Millsap and Green are out due to injury. Campazzo, RJ Hampton and Markus Howard are stuck in Chicago hotel rooms due to COVID-related health and safety protocols. Undermanned, tired, and in the middle of a four-game road trip against the two-time reigning MVP and a championship contender, the Nuggets got their best win of the season and had fun doing it.

“You had every reason to walk into this game against a team that’s won five in a row, playing very well. Just kind of say, ‘Well, you know, it’s been a good road trip so far,'” Michael Malone said. “But our guys never did that. That was never our approach. We prepared to win.”

Perhaps there’s a scenario that could have unfolded last offseason where Craig stays in Denver. Malone was clearly a fan. Craig’s personality was also a perfect fit with the Nuggets’ makeup.

The first shoe dropped on draft night when Denver traded back into the first round to draft Hampton. With that selection, one of the Nuggets’ vacant roster spots was gone. Then came free agency. After Jerami Grant surprised Denver’s front office and signed in Detroit, the Nuggets felt a need to bolster their frontcourt, league sources told DNVR, and turned their attention to Millsap. By then, Denver had also penciled in Campazzo for one of its open roster spots.

Converting Bol Bol to a standard NBA deal from his two-way contract soaked up another spot. Denver wanted a true backup center on its roster too, and with Mason Plumlee gone, Denver signed Isaiah Hartenstein.

Craig also thought he’d have a more advantageous free-agent market. The Phoenix Suns were very interested in Craig’s services, per a source, but then signed Jae Crowder. When all of Denver’s available roster spots dried up and the Nuggets pulled Craig’s qualifying offer, president of basketball operations Tim Connelly and general manager Calvin Booth both made calls to help Craig find a favorable landing spot, a league source told DNVR.

Eventually, Craig signed in Milwaukee.