It has become routine for the Nuggets to shower Gary Harris with a chorus of “First Team” in the locker room after some of Denver’s most impressive victories this season, championing the two-guard’s legitimate case for a spot on the NBA’s All-Defensive Team.
Some of Harris’ individually defensive highlights this season include holding Luka Doncic to 12 points on 3 of 12 shooting, and Devin Booker to a combined 30 points on 11 of 33 shooting across two meetings, performances that were surely First Team All-Defense worthy. But Harris couldn’t hold the Nets’ top perimeter threat in check Sunday.
Spencer Dinwiddie shredded Harris and the Nuggets’ defense to the tune of 24 points on 10 of 17 shooting to go with eight assists.
Dinwiddie lived in Denver’s paint, scoring nine of his ten field goals in the restricted area, and so did the rest of Brooklyn’s roster. The Nets tallied 66 points in the paint, reeling off one straight line drive to the rim after another as the Nuggets’ perimeter defense was non-existent for much of the game.
The Nuggets started the first quarter off cold, missing six of their first eight shot attempts but gradually found their footing. After outscoring Brooklyn 33-28 in the second, Denver took a 54-53 lead into the half thanks to a Jamal Murray 3, which barely beat the halftime buzzer. After the Nets took a five-point lead into the fourth, the Nuggets clawed back and had opportunities to put the game away.
A Will Barton 3 from the corner with 1:32 remaining gave Denver a 100-99 lead, and the Nuggets had a chance to expand their lead on their next possession. But Denver came up empty, and Dinwiddie responded with a basket to give the Nets the lead back. After a subsequent bucket from Jokic, Dinwiddie drove to the rim again and scored. Down one with the ball and 26.3 seconds on the clock, the Nuggets entered the ball to Jokic, but the Nets doubled Denver’s big man and forced the ball out of his hands. The Nuggets couldn’t get off a good shot attempt afterward, and Barton’s mid-range jumper missed. Denver fouled Taurean Prince moments later who hit both free-throws and Jamal Murray’s three-pointer at the fourth quarter buzzer missed as Denver dropped to 14-7 on the season.
To the grades, we go.
Honor Roll
Nikola Jokic – A
The Nuggets can take some solace and breath a big sigh of relief because it looks like Jokic is out of his late-November and early-December slump. Jokic followed up his season-high 30 points against the Celtics with a team-best 24 in Brooklyn. He was aggressive around the rim and willing to launch from 3 even though he’s been ice cold from a distance this season. He hit two of his six attempts from distance today, an improvement on the 22% clip he’s shot from 3 this season before Sunday’s matchup.
Jerami Grant – A
The Nuggets attempted a season-high 42 3s today, and seven of those attempts came via Grant, who converted on five triples even though he’s shooting just 32% from long distance this year. Grant’s 15 points off the bench tied his third-highest scoring output of the season, and the reserve forward was the only Nuggets player outside of Jokic and Jamal Murray (21 points) to hit double-figure scoring. Michael Malone closed this game with Grant instead of Millsap, a move that we’ve seen Denver’s coach go to before this season.
The Class
Jamal Murray – B+
The Nuggets needed Murray to be a scorer today with no one outside of Jokic and Grant able to get much going offensively, and he responded with 21 points on 7 of 17 shooting, three rebounds, and five assists.
Monte Morris – B+
Morris has nine points and four assists in 15 minutes and hit two much-needed triples. “Three-card Monte” as Nuggets play-by-play man Chris Marlowe likes to say. Morris ran a bench unit that played one of its better games of the season.
Will Barton – C+
Outside of the Nuggets’ win over the Knicks, Barton has been quiet as of late. He shot 2 of 11 from the field against the Lakers, then 3 of 8 versus Boston, and just 3 of 6 tonight. It seems like a byproduct of Jokic taking back more control of the offense is fewer shots for Barton, and it’s going to be interesting to see how he adjusts going forward.
Principal’s Office
Juancho Hernangomez – C-
Tough night for Hernangomez. He missed all four of his shots, all of which came from three-point range. Those misfires stuck out too. More than anything, Hernangomez is on the floor for his offense and to make 3s, and when he’s not doing that, Denver’s attack suffers.
Mason Plumlee – C-
You’ve got to reward your big man in basketball for his hard work on the glass and the defensive end, and Plumlee deserves a post-up from time-to-time and the chance to call his own number. But way too many possessions Sunday ended in Plumlee jumpers. But overall, Denver’s bench was a positive. Plumlee had two timely blocks also.
Gary Harris – D
Harris has been great defensively this season. He’s shut down Luka Doncic, Buddy Hield, Bradley Beal, and Devin Booker (twice), but struggled today on Dinwiddie. I suspected we might see Torrey Craig in the second half with how easily Dinwiddie got to the hoop on Harris, but Malone stayed with his go-to defensive option in the third and fourth quarters. Harris couldn’t provide and resistance on Dinwiddie’s drives. Dinwiddie had ten field goals Sunday, nine of which came in the restricted area.
If you’re looking for a positive from Harris’ performance, he’s showing signs of busting the offensive slump he’s been in for much of the season. Harris tallied nine points on just 3 of 10 shooting and all three of his makes were from three-point range. You’d like to see him be more effective from two-point range, but Harris has quietly made 11 of his last 24 3s over the Nuggets’ previous five games.
