Michael Malone has stood in front of one too many scrums awaiting questions about a loss to the Houston Rockets. The Rockets had won 10 of their last 11 matchups with the Denver Nuggets coming into Wednesday night’s game, making the Pepsi Center their home away from home. Throughout those losses, Malone’s clung to his team’s ability to limit James Harden as a scorer, but they had little to show for it as Clint Capela, PJ Tucker, and other familiar faces of the ensemble have taken turns sinking Denver’s battleship.

Malone didn’t have to do that on Wednesday night. The Nuggets turned in their best defensive performance, and perhaps overall performance in any regular-season game of the Jokić era in the 105-95 win at The Can.

The Nuggets threw a variety of looks at Harden, preventing him from finding a rhythm, and forced Houston’s role players to make quick decisions late in the shot clock with multiple effort closeouts that Malone dreams of at night.

Torrey Craig returned—and excelled—Nikola Jokić put up a “quiet 27”, and Will Barton III balled out again as Denver held Houston below 100 points for the first time in the last 21 games.

Let’s go to the grades.

Honor Roll

Nikola Jokić – A

As it turns out, when Jokić looks engaged, the Nuggets look great. Who knew? The big man was on his game and his best behavior on Wednesday night, putting up a “quiet” 27 points on 19 shots–in the words of his head coach–and grabbing five offensive rebounds in the win. His stat line is tasty, but what stands out from this performance is actually what was missing. Diehard Nuggets fans have afterimages of Jokić on an island with Harden or Capela embarrassing him in the pick and roll, but Denver kept him out of the meat grinder, and he played his role in the defensive clinic.

Will Barton III – A-

The redemption tour continues. Barton III was the second-highest scorer in a Nuggets uniform with 15 points on an efficient 7-for-12. He also grabbed seven rebounds and added three assists without turning the ball over. Barton’s seen a welcome return to form offensively, but his commitment to the glass and the defensive end have comprised the foundation on which he’s built a phenomenal start to the 2019-20 season. That stat line notwithstanding, his most memorable contributions in this one came in the form of great defense on Houston’s dynamic stars. He defended Harden well and locked down Westbrook in a key possession late in the game.

Say his name.

Torrey Craig – A-

I’m grading on a bit of a scale here, but Craig was asked to come in cold off the bench with the primary responsibility of limiting James Harden and Russell Westbrook. If you read that sentence again, you’ll realize that it’s completely and utterly absurd, topped only by Craig going on about it dutifully. We’ve talked so much about Craig’s defensive ability being mitigated by his second unit assignments–it was on full display on Wednesday night against what might be the most talented backcourt in the league. One can’t say enough about Craig’s performance on the defensive end.

He finished with two steals and three blocks in 18 minutes.

The Class

Paul Millsap – B+

Millsap only took seven shots in this game, which should be a feather in his cap as he hit four of them, and probably doesn’t get enough credit for his ability to score when called on without demanding touches. Millsap is built like a brick wall, and I find there to be a delightful irony to his game as he’s more malleable than immovable, twisting and bending into whatever Denver needs of him on a nightly basis. On Wednesday they needed him to be a stud on the defensive end and not much more. That’s easy for him.

Gary Harris – B-

Through 12 games, Harris has looked less like a third-wheel in Denver’s offense and more like a defensive specialist. The good news? He’s special on defense. Tonight wasn’t really about any players’ individual defense so much as it was the game plan defensively–to keep Harden on his toes with a slightly different look from possession to possession. But there’s no world in which a team keeps Harden below 30 and shuts Westbrook down without a strong defensive performance from their back court, and every such game for Denver begins with Harris.

Jamal Murray – B-

Murray had a sneaky good game in my eyes. Fresh off one of the best games of his still-young career in Memphis, the hope was to see him follow it up with something similar—consistency being the big knock on him to this point. We didn’t see that, as Murray hit just four of his 16 shots.

If you spend too much time lamenting the poor shooting, however, you might miss the nine assists and six steals in his box score. It’s no secret that Murray is contributing more to wins even when the shots aren’t falling this season. He’s growing into his own as a game manager, and his effort on the defensive end makes him a near unrecognizable player compared to his first few seasons in the league.

Juancho Hernangomez – B –

There’s an emerging correlation between Juancho appearances and games in the win column for the Denver Nuggets.

He finished with eight points and six rebounds in his 16 minutes on the court.

Principal’s Office

No one!

Game Ball