“They've got to adjust to us": Why the Nuggets insist small ball will be a wining formula

DALLAS — With the shot clock winding down early in the fourth quarter, Isaiah Thomas uncorked a 3-pointer, watched it fall through the net and then let Dorian Finney-Smith have an earful. The sequence, which opened up a 24-point lead for Denver in its 114-104 win over Dallas on Friday, was significant not only because of who capped it with a swish but also because of the player who made it happen with a drive and kick in the first place: Monte Morris.

The idea of the two undersized point guards logging minutes together might have seemed farfetched at the beginning of the season, but Morris’ play during Thomas’ absence has forced the Nuggets to readjust. Morris has been perhaps the best backup point guard in all of basketball. Instead of yanking him out of the lineup with Thomas back in the equation, Nuggets coach Michael Malone has addressed his too-many-guards, not-enough-minutes problem the last two games by going small.

Morris, Thomas and Gary Harris were all on the floor when Denver broke the game open in third quarter. Malone threw out plenty of three-guard looks all night, a strategy that worked out well against a Mavericks team that was missing Luka Doncic and often went small themselves.

“They tried to post us up a few times tonight with Isaiah guarding (Justin) Jackson,” Malone said. “Isaiah is strong. He’s got a lot of pride. And he’s got six fouls. You put that all together, and he’s going to make it tough on people. I think what teams are going to realize is you can go at a perceived matchup, but it’s going to take you out of what you normally do.”

Malone was pleased with his team’s fight. The Nuggets forced 18 deflections and won five of seven 50-50 balls, according to data they track themselves. They led by one at halftime despite shooting 36.5 percent from the field. In the locker room during the break, Malone showed a clip of Jamal Murray poking away a pass, hunting the ball down and throwing it to Will Barton, who got it to Paul Millsap for an and-1.

“To me it’s never about the size of the dog,” Malone said. “It’s about the heart that you have. Tonight, I thought Jamal really imposed himself on the defensive end.”

Murray went just 5 for 16 from the field but contributed in other ways with five rebounds, four assists and three steals. He played a team-high 33 minutes and was one of six guards to earn double-digit minutes along with Will Barton (28), Malik Beasley (27), Harris (21), Morris (19) and Thomas (16).

Thomas missed his first three shots but settled in as the game wore on. He finished with 16 points, eight of which came in the fourth quarter. The 5-foot-9 bucket getter, who returned last week after an 11-month absence, has 24 points in 29 minutes in a Nuggets uniform. Paul Millsap admitted he’s surprised Thomas has looked this sharp this quickly.

“I didn’t have that much juice when I came back from three months,” Millsap said, referring to his 44-game absence last season. “Eleven months. Sheesh. It’s a credit to his hard work. It’s unbelievable. Shocked a little bit, but I’m happy for him.”

Harris returned from a right adductor injury that cost him seven games. He came off the bench and chipped in with eight points, two rebounds, one assist and one steal. Harris guarded Tim Hardaway Jr., who’s 2 inches taller than him, and said he knows that he’ll often be asked to shadow bigger players when Denver goes small.

“Gary is a big-time football player or fan or whatever, and that gives him a defensive mindset,” Millsap said this week. “The way he gets over screens and takes on the challenge of guarding his guy, but also the way he helps guys. He’s one of the better help defenders we have. To have him back adds a lot to our defense.”

The Nuggets were in the top five in defensive efficiency early in the season, but when Millsap and Harris missed time, their slide began. Malone said this week he wanted his team to rediscover the edge and focus they played with on that end during the stretch run. Friday marked a step in the right direction as they limited the Mavericks to 40.5 percent shooting.

Offense will never be a problem with this group. Malone has more weapons at his disposal than a Roman arsenal.

“The way we play, it’s position-less basketball,” Malone said. 

If that means three guards out there at the same time, so be it. The Nuggets are confident they can more than make up for whatever they give up.

“They’ve got to adjust us,” Thomas said. “It don’t matter how small you are no more. The game has changed. You could go five guards if you really wanted to. We’re a scrappy group. We don’t back down from anybody. That’s what you’ve got to do when you’re undersized.”