SAN ANTONIO — It looked like pregame layup lines, the way Derrick White was going to the basket unencumbered. Any time the second-year guard decided to get to the rim, Denver’s defense cracked like an egg.
By halftime of Thursday’s pivotal Game 3, White, who was slated to be a backup before Dejounte Murray tore his ACL in the preseason, had matched his career high of 26. By game’s end, he’d torched the Nuggets for 36.
“We couldn’t stop him,” said Michael Malone, whose Nuggets fell 118-108 and went behind two games to one. “… He attacked. He got wherever he wanted.”
Through three games, the biggest thorn in Denver’s side hasn’t been LaMarcus Aldridge or DeMar DeRozan, midrange specialists with 11 All-Star appearances between them. Their biggest issue has been containing the 24-year-old who has spent the last half decade sneaking up on those who didn’t see him coming.
White’s backstory is well known by now: scrawny kid who hit a growth spurt after high school and went from fringe Division II prospect to first-team All-Pac 12 under Tad Boyle at Colorado by the time his college career was over. The Spurs took a chance on the Colorado kid at 29th overall in 2017. And well?
“He’s OK,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich deadpanned after White demolished the Nuggets.
The battle between White and Nuggets starting point guard Jamal Murray is getting lopsided — even with Murray’s fourth-quarter explosion in Game 2. Murray looked like he was stuck in cement in Game 3 trying to keep White out the paint. White converted 15 of 21 shots, including 12 of 14 at the rim.
White impacted the game in all facets, grabbing five rebounds, doling out five assists and blocking three shots. He was a plus-30 in 33 minutes. Murray finished with six points, made two field goals and turned it over four times with White dominating him like a man who was trying to prove something after Murray went for 21 fourth-quarter points two nights earlier.
“I felt like a lot of those were on me, so I had to step up and make him work today,” White said.
Going into the playoffs, a lot of the skepticism surrounding the Nuggets had to do with their star center. Could Nikola Jokic’s pass-first mentality work in the postseason? Would he get exposed on the defensive end? Through three games, Jokic is averaging 17.7 points on 50% percent shooting, 11.7 rebounds and 9.7 assists. He has played stout defense on Aldridge. Perhaps more of the suspicion should have been cast on Denver’s starting point guard.
Murray’s best skill is his scoring, but he’s struggled to get by guys and isn’t hitting from outside. He’s shooting 39.1% from the field in the series. If you remove his fourth quarter Tuesday from the equation, he’s down to 27%. Overall, White has outscored him 69-47, a discrepancy that’s going to have to narrow if the Nuggets want to win this series.
“I think Jamal first and foremost has to take a lot more pride in his ability to guard and contain and make Derrick White feel us,” Malone said. “Derrick White did not feel us tonight.”
The Spurs blew by the Nuggets off the dribble 16 times Thursday, according to Denver’s internal tracking data. That led to 62 points in the paint.
“At the end of the day, we’ve got to take the initiative on ourselves to get stops one on one,” said Paul Millsap, who was a bright spot with 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting. “I think if we do that, we’ll be fine. We’ve shown that we can compete. We’ve shown that we can win games. It’s just moments and points in the game where we lose it. Certain guys can’t go off like that.”
Certain guys? It wasn’t difficult to figure out who Millsap was talking about.
“There’s no doubt in my mind that in the last couple of days Derrick White has been reminded about Jamal Murray’s fourth-quarter performance,” Malone said. “Derrick White came out and looked like he hasn’t eaten in two days. He came out hungry. He came out pissed off. And he sent a very loud and clear message.”
That message looked like layup after layup in the first quarter. It looked like White blowing past Nuggets trying to close out. It looked like White hammering a dunk going into halftime, killing whatever momentum Denver’s reserves had regained when they ripped off a 16-0 run to start the second quarter.
After the game, Malone was frustrated but not boiling over. Toward the end of his postgame remarks, he cited this statistic: Denver is the eighth-youngest playoff team in NBA history. Six of the nine players in his rotation are getting a taste of what the postseason is like for the first time. Mistakes are to be expected. His point is a good one, except for this: The Spurs’ best player in this series so far is a relative postseason newcomer as well. White played 18 minutes across three games in San Antonio’s first-round series against Golden State last year. He has looked calm and in control without a wealth of postseason experience to rely on.
“Everybody said I didn’t have playoff experience, but I did in the G League,” White said. “Just kidding.”
In 11 of 12 quarters, White has gotten the better of Murray. That must change if Denver is to claw back into the series.
