The Denver Nuggets big man rotation was put to the test Friday night against the smaller Miami Heat. They passed. Barely.
After missing a pair of free-throws with 30 seconds remaining, Paul Millsap sunk three-straight with Denver trailing by two. A desperation three by Dion Waiters fell short as Denver escaped with a 95-94 victory.
Nuggets’ coach Michael Malone, who’s trying to play four big men in Millsap, Nikola Jokic, Mason Plumlee and Kenneth Faried in an era where the Heat and most of the league plays three bigs at most, vowed after Denver’s morning shootaround that he wouldn’t be reactionary with his rotation.
“I don’t believe in just matching up to match up,” Malone said when asked if the Heat’s smallball would prompt him to play a similarly sized lineup. Denver has had success playing a traditional lineup before, like last season against Golden State when the Warriors went to their “Death Lineup” but the Nuggets still found success and a win with a traditional approach.
“I’m not going to react because they made a change in their lineup. They’re doing that because obviously we’re doing something that’s giving them trouble and they’re trying to respond by going small,” Malone continued. “Now if our big lineup was not able to hold and we’re struggling, then I’ll definitely make the change.”
Although defense seemed optional in the first quarter when Miami scored 37 points, hit 15-19 from the field and 7-10 from three, Denver’s big men stayed productive. Millsap attacked smaller Heat defenders like Okaro White and James Johnson on his way to 13 first-half points and Jokic found success against Hassan Whiteside and Kelly Olynyk. Jokic with 14 first-half points on a clean 6-8 shooting.
The Nuggets’ frontcourt combined for 27 of Denver’s 51 first-half points, but a seven-point deficit at the half prompted Malone to change his rotation and go small.
Both Denver and Miami locked in defensively in a third quarter that saw the Heat score just 13 points on 3-18 shooting and commit six turnovers. Malone then went to a small ball lineup around Jokic with Wilson Chandler at power forward to begin the fourth, when Faried and Jokic typically play together, and Denver gradually built a ten point lead.
Later in the fourth, it was Millsap’s turn at center until Denver went back to their starters with a little over five minutes remaining and a nine-point lead. But the Heat countered. A Dion Waiters three cut Denver’s lead to three with 3:30 left and the Heat took the lead back a few minutes later on a Josh Richardson triple.
Jokic won a crucial jump-ball against Whiteside with under two minutes remaining that ended in a Gary Harris layup. But with Denver trailing by one at 93-92 with 30.9 seconds left Millsap was fouled. He missed both free-throws. After Goran Dragic split a pair on the other end, Millsap had his chance at redemption when he was fouled on a three-point attempt with just 11.8 seconds remaining and Denver trailing by two. He hit all three.
Millsap, who continues to find his place within the Nuggets’ offense put together his seventh double-figure scoring night in nine tries and Denver’s best overall player tonight. When his offense hasn’t been there this year, Millsap’s defense, which has been as advertised after the Nuggets’ signed the power forward to a three-year, $90 million contract this offseason, time and time against has set the tone for Denver. His two steals tonight both came at crucial moments.
The 32-year-old finished with 27 points, nine rebounds, and five assists.
