Should Malik Beasley move into the Nuggets' starting lineup?

Malik Beasley played starter-level minutes for the first time this season in the Nuggets’ 116-111 win over the Pelicans. The confident third-year shooting guard wants to make sure it’s not the last time he will either.

“Its always been a goal,” Beasley said when asked about his aspirations to start. “Right now I’m behind Gary Harris. He’s making me better every day. I’m a starting shooting guard who happens to play off the bench. That’s how I see it.

“I have all the respect for Gary. I’m just going to keep working hard, and my time will come, whether it’s playing with him, or playing on a different team, or whatever it is. I’ll start someday.”

Beasley looked the part against the Pelicans, finishing with a season-high 12 points on 5-9 shooting from the field, 2-6 from three, six rebounds and two assists. The 31 minutes Beasley played against New Orleans was a new season-high, eclipsing the 19 he logged last week versus Sacramento. For the second-straight game, he led Denver in plus-minus. The Nuggets outscored the Pelicans by 10 points when Beasley was on the floor.

It was an ironman-like performance from Beasley too, who came on at the 10:07 mark of the third quarter for Torrey Craig and immediately sparked a 7-0 Nuggets’ run. Beasley went on to play all but four seconds of the rest of regulation and helped Denver edge a pesky New Orleans team that was without Most Valuable Player candidate Anthony Daivs.

Are back-to-back standout performances from Beasley enough to push the former 19th overall pick out of Florida State into Denver’s starting lineup, which hasn’t found consistency at small forward since Will Barton went down with a hip/core injury that will keep him sidelined for at least the next five weeks?

Not according to Nuggets coach Michael Malone, who isn’t looking to make any dramatic changes to his first five after a hot start to the regular season

“We’re 5-1,” Malone said. “Torrey Craig has proven to me time and time again that he’s capable of helping our team win and win big games and Torrey will get the start once again in Chicago. Tonight, yeah, I pulled him early. It wasn’t his night, but that doesn’t mean that next game in Chicago won’t be.”

But should he consider it?

Denver’s starting lineup, which has consisted of Craig, Harris, Jamal Murray, Paul Millsap and Nikola Jokic since Barton was injured in the Nuggets’ home opener, got outscored by seven points against New Orleans. Defenses have begun to let Millsap and Craig, who have combined to shoot 5-26 from three this year, let it fly from outside and sink down to Jokic and Denver’s guards as they look to penetrate. At times, that group has struggled to generate consistent open looks versus the Anthony Davis-less Pelicans. Millsap did drain two threes Monday, a step in the positive direction for the veteran big man.

Denver’s starting group looked vastly different once Beasley came on for Craig.

In 14 minutes of action, Beasley, Murray, Harris, Millsap and Jokic outscored the Pelicans 48-34. Beasley gives Denver a more dangerous three-point threat than Craig, who is just 2-14 from distance this season. Monday night, that group hit five of their 11 attempts from beyond the arc.

The 21-year-old also made some clutch plays down the stretch on both ends of the floor. Beasley scored five straight points for the Nuggets as Denver clung to a 96-94 lead with under four minutes remaining and chipped in on the defensive end of the floor as well.

“He was in the right spot, right time,” Murray said.

“Defensive discipline, multiple effort, flying around, contesting shots, and he made some big baskets for us,” Malone added. “Once they took that 18-point lead and cut it all the way down, Malik was a big part of us winning that game.”

Beasley wasn’t fazed late in the fourth quarter despite finding himself in unfamiliar territory. He hasn’t been called on to play in high-leverage situations for Denver yet this season, let alone an entire second half.

“It was just cool to be out there, especially to close the game out,” Beasley said. “Looking at the score, we’re up only two with around two minutes left to go, and I was like, ‘Wow, I’m in the game.’ I’ve just got to make sure I continue to work hard and continue to get coach to trust me and just keep playing.”

Beasley will get an ample amount of opportunities to play as long as he’s producing at this level, but his minutes could still fluctuate night to night. Malone is planning on rolling with the hot hand off the bench for now, whether that’s Beasley, Craig or Juancho Hernangomez, who played just eight minutes and went scoreless in the win. Monday was Beasley’s night; Wednesday in Chicago could be Craig’s, and Thursday in Cleveland, Hernangomez could play a leading role off the Nuggets’ bench.

“Whether they like it or not, I’m probably going to see which one has it going that night and stick with that guy,” said Malone. “They’ve got to be ready for that.”