I’ve heard the name “Bobby Fischer” uttered more times over the last 24 hours than in my 27 years on this planet.
Michael Malone first referred to Gregg Popovich as ‘Fischer,’ who’s widely considered the greatest American Chess Player of all time, following the Nuggets’ Monday practice earlier this week, stressing to reporters in attendance that he wasn’t overly worried about matching wits with a basketball savant like the Spurs’ coach. When asked about Malone’s comment prior to Game 5, Popovich shrugged off the comparison, sarcastically responding that he doesn’t know who Fischer is.
After the Nuggets wrapped up a convincing 108-90 win in Game 5 to take a commanding 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven first-round series, Popovich namedropped the American chess grandmaster again when asked about tweaks he’d make for Game 6.
“I’m not interested in adjustments right now,” he said. “The game just ended. Maybe I’ll look at the film first. That was my best Bobby Fischer. Tell uncle Mikey that.”
When Malone got wind of Popovich’s comments in his postgame media availability, he chuckled, then launched into an impassioned argument as to why Popovich deserves to be in the Hall-of-Fame, something San Antonio’s coach doesn’t want to be considered for until he retires.
In a highly competitive series that at times has doubled as a mutual admiration society between the two team’s head coaches, Popovich should be calling Malone ‘Fischer,’ not vice versa. It’s Malone’s adjustments throughout the first five games that have helped the Nuggets take control of the matchup and come within one win of their first playoff series victory since 2009.
First, it was his decision to promote Torrey Craig into his starting lineup in place of the struggling Will Barton ahead of Game 4. Craig has kept DeMar DeRozan to under 20 points in each of the last two games. Barton has even unearthed a bit of his offensive rhythm off Denver’s bench and chipped in 17 points in the Nuggets’ Game 5 victory, the most he’s scored in over a month.
Secondly, Malone moved Gary Harris, his best perimeter defender, onto Derrick White, who was averaging 23 points per game over the first three games of the series and tallied a career-high 36 points in the Spurs’ Game 3 win. Harris, who Malone called one of “one of the most underrated defenders in the league,” has suffocated White over the last two games, holding him to just eight points in the Nuggets’ Game 4 win and then only one basket through three quarters of Tuesday’s win.
Malone’s also gotten his starting point guard back into the series. Murray missed a potential game-winner in the series opener, then got cooked by White for two games before Malone moved him off of San Antonio’s lead ball handler. But over Games 4 and 5, Murray has looked like the best version of his 2018-19 self. He scored 24 points in the Nuggets’ Game 4 win then had an even better showing Tuesday, dropping a team-high 23 points, 12 of which came from beyond the arc. The 22-year-old is quietly shooting a healthy 11 of 28 (39.2%) from 3 in the series and has found the edge to his game that he briefly lost. He’s also rediscovered his offensive synergy in the two-man game with Nikola Jokic to such an extent that Denver’s coach called the duo’s chemistry “romantic.”
Malone challenged Murray prior to Game 4 to play more consistent, a plea that Denver’s coach has made time and time again this season. Murray answered his coach’s call with back-to-back 20-plus point games. He currently looks like he’s shooting the ball into a hoop as big as Sloan’s Lake.
“It’s pretty big right now,” Murray said of the basket. “I’m just playing focused. I’m focused on being consistent. That’s my challenge, just being consistent every game and putting the ball in the hoop, doing what I do best, and playing with that fire for my team.”
His final adjustment, and maybe Malone’s most-under-the-radar move, has been to focus more attention on San Antonio’s drivers. Malone’s ordered both Jokic and Paul Millsap to play higher up the floor when defending San Antonio pick-and-rolls, and the Nuggets’ starting front court, especially Jokic, who’s been knocked for his defensive shortcomings throughout his career, has been stellar. Jokic has also looked like a seasoned playoff veteran defending All-Star forward LaMarcus Aldridge this series. White hasn’t gotten all the way to the hoop nearly as often in the Nuggets’ two-straight wins as he did in Games 1 and 2 and 3.
“(Jokic’s) defense, in the pick-and-roll and post, this is some of the best defense he’s played all year,” Malone said.
He was a commanding presence on offense in Game 5 too, dominating the ebbs and flows of the matchup even though the All-Star center only attempted 11 field goals. Jokic finished with 16 points, 11 rebounds, and eight assists in the win.
Denver has looked like a totally different team since Malone took a scalpel to his original first-round game plan.
While the Nuggets have made one right adjustment after another, Denver has waited and waited for San Antonio’s tweaks to come. They haven’t but maybe Popovich has something in store for Game 6. With Denver’s first five of Murray, Harris, Craig, Millsap and Jokic outscoring the Spurs 90-67 over their last 35 minutes on the floor, good for a 31.3 Net Rating, San Antonio desperately needs a starting lineup change.
The Nuggets have the more talented team in the series, and are finally playing like it. Denver is outscoring San Antonio 193-153 since the second quarter of Game 4, but wouldn’t be if not for Malone’s key adjustments throughout the first five games.
As the series shifts to San Antonio with the Nuggets on the verge of their first series victory since 2009, Malone has Popovich within one or two more adjustments of a checkmate.
