Nuggets-Bucks Grades: Haunted by late game struggles

The Denver Nuggets suffered another tough loss 104-98 to the Milwaukee Bucks, struggling to close out the second half once again. Here’s how every Nuggets player fared.

We grade every performance from the Nuggets with our Dynamic Player Rating (DPR) grades, which take into account 12 different statistical factors.

Nikola Jokic (C+) 62.97 — Jokic put up an efficient 20 points on 54-percent TS% but wasn’t able to do much else. His 110 DRtg was fine for his standards but hurt his grade as did his team-leading -16 in 32 minutes of play. Jokic’s inability to create more than five assists or five boards—a season-low for the Joker—lessened his rating as well, despite leading all Denver scorers.

Gary Harris (C-) 51.87 — Harris had his second-worst outing of the season per DPR—below only a four-point outing against the Brooklyn Nets earlier in the month. His 43 percent eFG% salvaged his outing some but he did little else in this one. With a low ORtg and GmSc that led to a -12 on the night, Harris has now gone two consecutive games without attempting a free throw when he was averaging 3.8 attempts in the previous 15 games.

Jamal Murray (B-) 65.03 — Despite not having an amazing soring night, this was still Murray’s seventh-best DPR of the year due in large part to his nine assists combined with his eight boards.

While he only scored 17 points, Murray shot an efficient 50-percent from the field and had a box-score stuffing game in a well-rounded performance.

Paul Millsap (C-) 53.71 — It was a lopsided game for Millsap who posted a solid 101 DRtg and added a team-high nine boards, in addition to a steal and a block. In a -10 outing going 0-for from three-point land and only scoring eight points, his offensive performance was lacking in his sixth-worst game of the year per our metric.

Juancho Hernangomez (D+) 47.36 — Juancho had his worst game since being inserted into the starting lineup, as he only mustered six points and struggled shooting from three with a 25 percent eFG%. His best contribution came with his seven boards and a lack of turnovers for a -6 plus-minus with his lowest GmSC of the month.

Monte Morris (C) 57.29 — Morris was one of only three Denver players to post a positive plus-minus of +8 thanks to an eFG% of 55 percent. The PG put up a typical one turnover performance with four assists. He wasn’t overwhelming offensively or defensively but had a positive outing none the less.

Mason Plumlee (C) 55.53 — Plumlee led the Nuggets with a +10 plus-minus in only 15 minutes, as he scored five points on 66-percent eFG%. His DRtg of 104 was second only to Millsap as he contributed five boards and a block as well.

Trey Lyles (D+) 48.48 — Lyles has really struggled shooting the ball this season and that continued in this one as he missed all four his three-point attempts and only shot 38-percent from the field. His ORtg was very low and he was unable to do much else, with only two boards and an assist.

Malik Beasley (B-) 68.15 — Beasly had his best game of the young season scoring 12 points in a quick 22 minutes off an 85-percent eFG%. His 163 ORtg was off the charts and his DRtg of  105 wasn’t too shabby either.