Paul Millsap following through on pledge to improve Nuggets' defense

Paul Millsap is a man of his word.

Since the 33-year-old vowed to the media and any player within earshot that the Denver Nuggets’ defense would improve after his team surrendered a 19-point second half lead to the Los Angeles Clippers last week, Millsap’s pledge is materializing.

“Trust me, we will get better on the defensive end,” Millsap said. “Tonight was a prime example of what we need to do to get better.”

In Denver’s first game following Millsap’s comments, the Nuggets held a depleted Memphis Grizzlies team to 44 percent shooting in their 108-102 win. Overall, it wasn’t a convincing defensive performance against the Grizzlies, who were without Tyreke Evans, Chandler Parsons, Andrew Harrison and JaMychal Green. But with Millsap on the floor, Denver gave up just 87.6 points per 100 possessions. For the game, the Grizzlies scored 101.4 points per 100 possessions.

Against the Cavaliers, the Nuggets allowed the league’s fifth-best offense to post 115 points. Cleveland scored 111.4 points per 100 possessions with Millsap on the court, but when he rested, Denver gave up 139.3 points per 100.

Two games — one against the tanking Grizzlies and another versus the Cavs, who have wide-ranging problems of their own — aren’t enough of a sample to conclude that Denver is turning the corner as a defense. However, Millsap’s immediate impact on that end of the floor — especially late in games — is notable.

Cleveland scored just 20 points over the final 12 minutes of Denver’s nine-point win Saturday and shot 1-6 from the field in the game’s final five minutes. The Cavs’ one basket in that span came via a LeBron James concession dunk with 44 seconds remaining. Twenty-four hours earlier, the Nuggets held the Grizzlies to 22 fourth-quarter points, and Memphis shot 0-6 in the last five minutes of regulation.

Despite a loose 24-minute restriction that Millsap has played with since he returned to the lineup, Nuggets coach Michael Malone has found a way to keep Denver’s marquee free agent acquisition on the floor for 13 of 24 fourth-quarter minutes against the Grizzlies and Cavaliers.

Millsap turned in two outstanding defensive sequences late against Memphis. The first came when he beat Marc Gasol to a spot on the floor following a pick-and-roll. The second occurred when he switched onto Mario Chalmers, hung with the point guard and forced the ball back to Gasol for a contested three.

In their last two games, the Nuggets are playing like the league’s best defense with Millsap on the floor but the worst without him. Denver had a 99.0 defensive rating with Millsap on the court against Memphis and Cleveland but gave up 128.8 points per 100 possessions with him on the bench.

Millsap is averaging 29 minutes per game across three matchups since returning from a left wrist injury that sidelined him for 44 games. He logged 23 against the Clippers, 27 versus Memphis and 26 Saturday in Cleveland. Soon, Millsap will get back to the 30-plus minutes per game he averaged before the injury.

The Nuggets’ defense plummeted from the 17th-best mark in the league to 27th overall in the 44 games Millsap missed. Nuggets coach Michael Malone called Denver’s defense “embarrassing” after his team’s loss to the Clippers.

Millsap can’t spark Denver’s defense back toward the league-average efficiency the Nuggets played with at the beginning of the season by himself. He’ll need buy-in from the rest of the roster and most importantly Nikola Jokic. Whether he gets it could determine if Denver breaks its four-year playoff drought.

Behind Millsap’s basketball IQ, defensive savvy and late-game experience, the Nuggets’ defense should take another step forward Tuesday against the Dallas Mavericks — the final matchup of Denver’s three-game road trip. Dallas is a bottom-10 offense this season and is just 2-9 in its past 11 games.