Michael Malone finally found a lineup that played with the heart, intensity and vigor that he was looking for late in the third quarter when Monte Morris joined Jamal Murray, PJ Dozier, Will Barton and Nikola Jokic on the floor.
That lineup, which was also aided at times by contributions from backup center Isaiah Hartenstein, played out the rest of the game and managed to trim a 19-point Clippers’ lead to 11 with around five minutes left in the fourth. Friday’s 121-108 loss, which dropped the Nuggets to 0-2 on the young season, wasn’t particularly close up until that point. But Denver’s finishing kick satisfied Malone on one front: at last he landed on a lineup that he felt played hard.
“It was good to finally find a group that competed and gave ourselves a chance,” Malone said.
Malone doesn’t mince his words. He’ll be honest about how he feels following thrilling wins but also debilitating losses. It’s something that’s always been appreciated about Denver’s coach throughout his time at the Nuggets’ helm. He certainly aired his frustrations after a second-straight Christmas Day shellacking.
Nine players logged 10 or more minutes for the Nuggets Friday. Malone mentioned six players by name — Murray, Morris, Dozier, Barton, Jokic and Hartenstein — who he felt played hard.
“We were really flat at times,” Malone said. “We had some guys that looked like they were barely breaking a sweet. Just kind of playing, but not playing hard, competing.”
The Clippers blitzed the Nuggets in the first half. Paul George was adamant postgame that LA didn’t get any extra gratification or fulfillment from beating Denver Friday after last season’s 3-1 collapse in the Western Conference semifinals, but George, Kawhi Leonard and their supporting cast looked locked in from the opening tip. The Clippers shot 12-23 from three-point range over the first and second quarters. Many of those looks were wide open. The Clippers’ shooting carried over to the third quarter too when LA went 4-8 from three.
George shot 5-9 from beyond the arc and seven players from the Clippers’ 10-man rotation hit at least two triples. New Clippers signing Serge Ibaka was especially effective. Denver didn’t have to account for his shooting in last season’s playoffs, and his smooth maneuvering in the pick-and-pop hurt the Nuggets. Three of Ibaka’s six makes Friday came from open jumpers out of pick-and-pop situations.
“I don’t think we put enough pressure on them to change the way they play,” Jamal Murray said.
Murray finally got going in the second half Friday for the first time this year. After he shot 2-12 from the field over his first six quarters of basketball this season, Murray tallied 13 points in the fourth against the Clippers and finished with 23 points (9-20 FG’s, 4-11 3FG’s). His eight-straight points for Denver early in the fourth quarter was the Nuggets’ first taste so far this season of the elite offensive player that Murray proved three months ago in the bubble that he can be.
But it wasn’t enough. For the second-straight game the Nuggets were out-rebounded. The Clippers corralled nine offensive rebounds on the night which led to 14 second-chances points. As a team, Denver struggled defensively, but it wasn’t pretty on the offensive end of the floor either.
Remember the effortless offense that the Nuggets quickly found in the preseason particularly against the Trail Blazers? Right now it’s a distant memory. Denver shot under 50% from the field and 31% from three in both of its regular season games so far. On the season, the Nuggets are now 19-65 (29.2%) from beyond the arc.
“We fought,” Murray said. “We are not panicked. We are just frustrated.”
That was another key takeaway from an isolated Christmas evening at barren Ball Arena. The Nuggets aren’t packing after opening the season with two-straight losses even though they’ve never started a regular season 0-2 under Malone. With Jokic, Murray and the core that’s still in Denver after last season’s Western Conference Finals run, there’s too much talent to panic.
But the Nuggets are also aware that it will take time to get acclimated to their new go-to lineups and combinations. Will Barton has looked strong through two games but didn’t play in the playoffs. Porter didn’t log a ton of minutes alongside Murray, Jokic and Denver’s starters last season, but is now a part of the starting five and a key ingredient to the Nuggets’ offense. Integrating him alongside the Jokic and Murray-led attack is still a work in progress.
“It’s hard because we are all trying to figure it out,” Jokic said. “Now Mike is playing more with us. Yeah, he played in the playoffs or whatever, but we all are kind of trying to figure it out. It’s just one guy, but still, he’s a really talented guy. We need to use him more and we need to kind of figure it out how we’re going to use (him).”
Not panicking is the right move. First off, it’s still early. Secondly, there’s an alternate universe where just one or two of the unfortunate whistles in the opener against the Kings actually go Denver’s way, and the Nuggets are 1-1 with a loss to a really good Clippers team who just outplayed them. Still, these losses matter in a loaded Western Conference where teams will be going all-out for a top-6 seed in order to avoid the play-in tournament.
“It’s very early,” Monte Morris said. “I was just talking to Millsap in the cold tub. It’s not panic mode.”
“We’ve got the core back, but you know, we’ll be alright.”
