The Nuggets are now really good when Nikola Jokic is off the floor

Michael Malone was so blown away by the play that he wants to enshrine it in his home forever.

“I’m going to frame it and put it in my house. It’s a work of art. A double contest,” Malone said. “That’s championship defense right there.”

The play in reference was Bruce Brown’s block on Kevin Durant from Game 2 of Nuggets-Suns, which was also contested by Aaron Gordon. Brown was guarding Durant on the play, but as Durant drove baseline, Gordon was there to provide help and also contest Durant’s pull-up jumper. Brown ended up blocking the shot. Thus, the “double contest.”

It was another standout defensive sequence from two players who are central to what’s been the Nuggets’ best lineup of these playoffs. No, it’s not the starting five with Nikola Jokic that bludgeoned teams throughout the regular season. It’s the bench. The second unit. And how dominant Denver has been with Jokic off the floor is the main reason why the Nuggets breezed through their first-round series in five games and have built a 2-0 series lead over the Suns.

The Nuggets’ go-to bench lineup, which features Brown, Gordon, Jamal Murray, Christian Braun, and Jeff Green and has appeared in six of seven playoff games for Denver, has outscored their opponent 59-48 in 26 postseason minutes. And that group has done it mostly on the defensive end.

The Nuggets’ primary bench lineup has a 92.3 Defensive Rating — that’s the second-best five-man DRtg in the playoffs out of the 29 lineups that have logged at least 25 minutes. Opponents are shooting just 34.7% against that lineup in the postseason. Overall, the Nuggets’ second unit has the second-best Net Rating out of those lineups behind only the Warriors’ starting five.

That group managed to quickly develop a chemistry together once the playoffs started. The foursome of Murray-Brown-Braun-Green logged some minutes during the regular season (-18 in 121 total minutes) but with different options at backup center. Those lineups didn’t exactly crush their opponent either. The first round against Minnesota was the first time all season that the Nuggets played the Murray-Brown-Braun-Green-Gordon lineup.

The results have been compelling. The Nuggets have outscored their opponent by 34 points in the 82 minutes (+4.9 per game) that Jokic has been on the bench in these playoffs. In the regular season, Denver went -376 in 1,628 minutes (-4.5 per game) with Jokic off the floor. It’s an astonishing turnaround.

It’s not hard to crack the code on why the Nuggets are all-of-a-sudden finding success, especially on the defensive end of the floor, without Jokic (statistically, the Nuggets played like the sixth-best defense in the NBA during the regular season with Jokic on the court.)

Denver naturally trimmed down its rotation once the playoffs started and Brown and Braun are the only two guards currently playing off the bench. They’re both great defenders who play hard and are high-IQ players that can execute the Nuggets’ scheme. Green has filled his role nicely too. He’s stepped up his overall engagement in the playoffs and has already drawn three charges in the postseason. Green drew seven all regular season.

But Gordon is the key. Now, Denver can switch 1-5 with its bench (the Nuggets can also deploy a switching scheme when it’s Michael Porter Jr. out there), and it’s been the single biggest factor why that group has been so good defensively. Overall, the Nuggets have the fourth-best defense in the playoffs.

Nuggets going with Green/Gordon with the bench lineup. Switch the Ayton/Booker P&R, switch Shamet screening. Ayton going to have to win these minutes. Nuggets go switch and double and get a steal. pic.twitter.com/p0PJ3FfqqY

— Steve Jones Jr. (@stevejones20) April 30, 2023

“Aaron has been a sponge, soaking it all up both offensively and defensively and that’s what you love about him,” Malone said “Just the versatility that he can provide. He can guard by 4s, 3s. We’ve put them on 1s, 2s, 3, and 4s, and that’s why we feel he’s one of the better all-around defenders in the NBA.”

You’re switching scheme is also going to find success if Brown can consistently outmuscle Deandre Ayton and get him to settle for shots like this.

“Give them a lot of credit,” Malone said of his guards. “They’re switching onto much bigger players but they are bringing the fight and the physicality, and that’s what you need if you’re going to be an effective switching team.”

In Round 1 of the playoffs, Timberwolves coach Chris Finch believed winning the non-Jokic minutes was going to be one of Minnesota’s keys to the series. You couldn’t fault his logic either. All season long, the Nuggets were awful when Jokic wasn’t in the game. But the playoffs have been different. Gordon took Karl-Anthony Towns out of the Nuggets’ first-round series, and Denver began to win games with its defense. That’s continued in Round 2 vs. the Suns.

A shortened rotation, a switching defense, and Gordon at backup center are why.