Nuggets-Pacers Grades: One to forget

The Denver Nuggets road trip ended on a sour note with a 124-88 defeat at the hands of the Indiana Pacers.

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

Note: for DPRs that are lacking context, our beat reporters are offering their scout’s grade.

Nikola Jokic (B) 73.92 — In a rough night up and down the Nuggets’ roster, Jokic still managed to bring home a positive grade with a classic box-score stuffing night, finishing with 19 points, 11 rebounds, eight assists, four blocks and a steal. That salvaged Jokic’s grade despite a minus-19 plus-minus and a 116 DRtg, which was still better than most of his teammates.

Jamal Murray (D) 41.42 — This was an ugly night for Murray, who hit a season-low DPR. That’ll happen when you score four points on a 16 eFG% and register a 47 ORtg, his second worst of the season. His minus-20 plus-minus in 28 minutes with four turnovers to five assists didn’t help his case either.

Paul Millsap (D) 43.82 — This marked Millsap’s fourth-worst DPR of the year in a game where the veteran forward had his worst DRtg (128) in close to two months. Denver’s defensive anchor struggled mightily, scoring six points, grabbing five rebounds and finished with a minus-17 plus-minus in 27 minutes.

Will Barton (C-) 50.45 — Barton’s 24 minutes were better than most starters, as he scored 15 points on a 57 eFG%. Outside of his scoring, Barton didn’t do much and his 87 ORtg was very low considering his efficient scoring night.

Gary Harris (C) 57.34 — Harris was also passable in 26 minutes, recording the highest plus-minus of any starter on a night finishing with 11 points on 91 eFG%. He easily had the best ORtg (181) on the roster. His lack of contributions in other areas really hurt his grade from going beyond a C.

Scout’s Grade (B+) — Other than Jokic, Harris was probably Denver’s best player in Indiana. He should have gotten more than just six shots, however. Harris has looked good over the last couple of weeks, completely over the various ailments he’s suffered through for most of the season. He’s got a spring in his step again and had a couple of crafty drives to the rim against the Pacers. Look for more of this from Harris over the final few weeks of the season and into the playoffs.

Malik Beasley (D-) 39.76 — Beasley didn’t have it in Indiana, scoring four points in 14 minutes with a horrendous 16 eFG%.  Both his DPR and 59 ORtg where top-five worst figures for him this season as he struggled to make a significant contribution beyond his scoring, a trend all season for the third-year guard.

Monte Morris (D+) 49.19 — Morris was better than most of his backcourt counterparts, despite a game worst minus-22. What salvaged Morris’ grade were his 12 points in 23 minutes on a 46 eFG%. His 134 DRtg and one assist capped his grade at a D+.

Mason Plumlee (D-) 38.51 — Plumlee had his third-worst DPR of the season in 17 minutes and finished the night with a minus-16 plus-minus. Plumlee also registered a 0 eFG%. He finished with four points — all of which came from the charity stripe — three rebounds, two assists, and a block.

Torrey Craig (D) 42.73 — Craig has had much worse nights than his outing in Indiana throughout the season, and with a solid 51 TS% and 97 ORtg, his offensive numbers weren’t as bad as they looked on the box score. Still, in a game where he only scored five points and grabbed four rebounds, his grade wasn’t going to be much better than a D.

Juancho Hernangomez (F) 34.86 — Juancho’s averaging a 40.63 DPR since Millsap’s return to the lineup back in January, so this isn’t that far off his average. But Hernangomez still had a disappointing outing in 12 minutes. Denver was a minus-11 when he was on the floor.