"We love playing together": Juancho Hernangomez gets candid about the second unit's chemistry

The play happened so fast, Boban Marjanovic had barely gotten to his feet by the time the ball was in his own basket.

In the second quarter against the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday, Juancho Hernangomez rose up and denied the 7-foot-3 Marjanovic at the rim. Hernangomez’s swat landed in Malik Beasley’s bread basket. Beasley threw an outlet pass to Monte Morris, who took two dribbles and found a streaking Trey Lyles for a layup. Four Nuggets touched the ball in a four-second span that pushed Denver’s lead to 11 and prompted Clippers head coach Doc Rivers to take a timeout.

During the preseason, Nuggets coach Michael Malone relied heavily on the all-bench lineup of Morris, Beasley, Hernangomez, Lyles and Mason Plumlee. That didn’t change in Wednesday’s regular-season opener as the five-man group logged 11 minutes together.

“I thought in the first half they were really good,” said Malone, whose Nuggets host the Phoenix Suns in their home opener at 7 p.m. tonight. “Obviously, we were able to extend the lead with them on the floor. In the second half, we struggled a little bit defensively. A lot of that was the Boban show. … I thought overall they did a really good job for us. And they’re going to continue doing a good job for us.”

Denver’s bench mob lineup outscored Los Angeles by five points when it was on the floor in the 107-98 win. For the most part, it held its own against the Clippers’ reserves, which included reigning Sixth Man of the Year Lou Williams, Montrezl Harrell and, of course, Marjanovic, the Serbian giant who scored 18 points in 18 minutes.

Denver’s bench was one of its biggest weaknesses last season. At one point in December, Malone whittled his rotation down to seven guys before abandoning that plan when some of his heavy-minutes players grew fatigued. Playing 10 guys Wednesday was further affirmation that this year Malone views Denver’s bench as a strength.

“We love playing together,” said Hernangomez, who scored five points and grabbed six rebounds in 15 minutes. “We practice so hard together. I think we have really good chemistry. We trust each other. Everybody can pass the ball. We play for the other one. We love to play together.”

Hernangomez is trying to bounce back after a lost sophomore season. He never got going after overcoming mono in the early part of the year, and he ended up appearing in only 25 games. It’s still too early to draw conclusions, but Hernangomez’s skill set could fit nicely next to Denver’s other reserves.

“I thought Juancho was terrific,” Malone said. “His energy — he had 10 contests. He was flying around.”

Lyles and Plumlee are going to receive consistent minutes every game. Morris will too until Isaiah Thomas returns from a hip injury. Beasley, Hernangomez and Torrey Craig are all competing for the backup wing minutes. Based on what we saw Wednesday, Beasley and Hernanogomez — first-round picks in the 2016 draft — have the inside track.

Malone has plenty of options to choose from this season. On many nights, like we saw Wednesday, the Nuggets will go 10 deep.

Denver defense gets early test

The Nuggets won their regular season opener with defense. They held the Clippers to 39.8 percent shooting from the field and 28.6 percent shooting from 3. Limiting the Phoenix Suns to similarly low marks in tonight’s home opener won’t be an easy task.

The Suns blasted the Dallas Mavericks 121-100 earlier this week. Shooting guard Devin Booker was sensational, needing only 19 shots to score 35 points. Bookers scored 19 points in the last five minutes alone. Gary Harris, who will likely start the game guarding him, will have his hands full.

One thing working in Denver’s favor: No. 1 overall pick Deandre Ayton, who had an 18-point, 10-rebound double-double in his NBA debut, is questionable. He rolled his ankle in practice Friday.

Nuggets Probable Starters

Jamal Murray, Gary Harris, Will Barton, Paul Millsap, Nikola Jokic

Inactives: Isaiah Thomas (right hip surgery), Michael Porter Jr. (low back surgery), Jarred Vanderbilt (right foot surgery)

Suns Probable Starters

Isaiah Canaan, Devin Booker, Trevor Ariza, Ryan Anderson, Tyson Chandler

Questionable: DeAndre Ayton (ankle); Inactive: Troy Daniels (concussion protocol)