When Juancho Hernangomez was diagnosed with mono prior to a crucial four-game Eastern Conference road trip earlier this season, Nuggets’ coach Michael Malone was probably relieved that Denver had just minted free-agent Richard Jefferson to a contract to fill the now-vacated backup small forward minutes. Jefferson, 37, is a trusted veteran who came to the Nuggets with a wealth a playoff experience and could have filled Hernangomez’s role on the wing just fine.

But Malone opted to insert Malik Beasley into the rotation because, quite frankly, he deserved it. Beasley’s a grinder, who came back to training camp a better player this fall and put in the work last season in Sioux Falls with the Miami Heat’s G League affiliate. And Beasley’s next up in what’s become a long line of players the Nuggets have drafted, including Nikola Jokic, Gary Harris, Emmanuel Mudiay, Jamal Murray and Hernangomez, who are now mainstays in their rotation.

“He’s done a good job of maximizing the minutes he’s been given,” Malone said at Friday morning’s shootaround.

Over Denver’s last six games, Beasley has run with Denver’s bench unit and averaged a hair under ten minutes per game. Most importantly, he looks like he belongs in an NBA rotation and Malone’s been “really pleased” with how Beasley has performed, especially on the defensive end of the floor.

He’s also usually sitting next to Jefferson on the bench — the guy he’s currently taking minutes from — and takes cues from the veteran when it comes to defensive assignments. Jefferson, who Beasley likened to Mike Miller, is also in his ear when he holds the ball longer than the .3 seconds on offense — the maximum amount of time it should take him to pass, shoot or dribble.

“That I’ve been doing a good job playing defense,” Beasley said referencing some of the feedback he’s gotten from Denver’s coaching staff. “Scoring is going to be tough with the guards out there so I’m okay with that. So I just stick to what I do. Cutting, shooting open shots when I have it.”

There’s no change in Beasley’s preparation going from a role last year where he seldom saw meaningful minutes to this stretch of games where he’s relied on to lock down some of the top bench scorers in the league. As Beasley put it, “if it’s two minutes or 15, it doesn’t matter.” He’ll still study film like he always has, stick to the same routine and when the lights come on, he’ll perform.

“He’s shown me that he has that ability (to defend) because of his athleticism and strength and explosiveness to cover a lot of ground and make plays,” Malone said. “And I think he wants to be a really a good defensive player. That’s such a big part of it. So many guys have all the natural abilities to be a good defender but aren’t because ultimately they don’t want to be. They don’t want to make that commitment on that end of the floor.”

The Nuggets limited Kyle Lowry to just to just 4-10 shooting in their 129-111 win over the Raptors on Wednesday and while Murray did most of the heavy lifting when it came to locking up Toronto’s All-Star point guard, Beasley chipped in as well.

“I think of his mindset, the intangibles. I think he enjoys playing defense,” Malone said. “I think he takes pride in trying to get stops and hold guys down.”

Beasley’s focus is first and foremost defense. He knows that’s how he’ll stay in the rotation and when playing with a bench unit that features Will Barton, sometimes Jokic and Kenneth Faried at the beginning of second quarters, his scoring isn’t needed. But Beasley’s other NBA-ready skill is his jumper and when he’s called upon he can be a capable outside shooter.

That’s valuable when playing alongside Faried and Mudiay, although the latter has shot an improved 43.5 percent from three in the early going this season.

“Main thing out there is just to defend, keep running and keep the score high,” Beasley said.

Turning down the Heat

The key for Malone and the Nuggets heading into Friday night’s matchup with the Miami Heat is will Denver be able to protect their paint? The Heat are second in the league in drives per game and third in the NBA in paint points.

“Can we keep them out of our paint?” Malone said when discussing the Nuggets’ top priorities against Miami. “Bottom line, whether that’s transition but more in the halfcourt, 1-on-1 containment. We went through a bunch of their plays. I said more important than all of their plays is gonna be 1-on-1 defense. Can you guard your man, can you keep them out of your paint on pick-and-rolls, can you send them to the coverage and not allow them to reject and drive away from the help and live in our paint. Can we close out and understand in our closeouts who am I closing out to and shrink the floor behind that.”

Heat big man Hassan Whiteside is a big reason why Miami thrives close to the basket. The 7-footer returned from a five-game absence on Wednesday due to a bone bruise in his knee and scored 13 points on 6-11 shooting and grabbed 14 rebounds in 26 minutes but finished with a -3 +/-. Last year against Denver Whiteside scored 25 points, grabbed 16 rebounds, and blocked four shots in Miami’s first meeting with the Nuggets and later in the year went for 16 and 11 but couldn’t contain Jokic who posted a 19-point, ten-rebound and seven-assist line in a three-point Miami loss.

[columns]
[column size=”1/2″]Nuggets Starters

Jamal Murray
Gary Harris
Wilson Chandler
Paul Millsap
Nikola Jokic[/column]
[column size=”1/2″]Heat Starters

Goran Dragic
Dion Waiters
Josh Richardson
Okara White
Hassan Whiteside[/column]
[/columns]