"We're all just on a string": The Nuggets are finally figuring it out on the defensive end

The possession began with Jamal Murray fighting over a screen and ended with Will Barton contesting Derrick Favors’ push shot at the rim. In between were hedges, switches and rotations from one side of the floor to the other — the chaotic but coordinated motion that makes a defense difficult to score on.

The final result: A Favors miss with the shot clock winding down.

The stop, which came with roughly three minutes remaining in the first half in the Nuggets’ 107-83 win over the Jazz on Tuesday, was a good example of the defensive strides Michael Malone’s club has made this month. Denver is making multiple rotations without suffering breakdowns. The Nuggets are playing finally playing harder are smarter on that end, which has helped them limit opponents to 101.7 points per 100 possessions in their last 10 games — the third-best mark in basketball during that stretch.

“We’re just all on a string,” Gary Harris told BSN Denver. “We’re doing a better job of communicating. Not worrying about who’s guarding who and just trying to contest every shot and get out and run.”

Harris spent most of Tuesday’s game guarding Rookie of the Year candidate Donovan Mitchell. With some help from his teammates, Harris was able to hold Mitchell in check. Mitchell scored 13 points on 10 shots, well below his season average of 17.9 points per game.

“You know he’s going to be aggressive, so you want to make things difficult for him,” Harris said. “Always keep a body in front of him. He can score from all three levels so for him, you just have to try and contain him.”

Containing dribble penetration was a problem for the Nuggets earlier in the season, but they’ve done a much better job of it lately. That was on display on this possession. Rodney Hood tries to lose Torrey Craig on a pick-and-roll, but Craig fights over the screen. Then Ricky Rubio tries to dance past Will Barton to no avail. The Jazz are forced to settle for a contested double-clutch layup over Barton’s outstretched arms.

When a defender does get beat, Denver is providing help. Here, Rodney Hood fools Craig by rejecting the screen. But once Hood gets inside, Mason Plumlee walls off a path to the rim.

Utah wound up shooting 32.1 percent from the floor. It scored just 34 first-half points and never broke the 25-point barrier in any quarter. Tuesday’s win marked the fifth time in the last 10 games the Nuggets have held their opponent to fewer than 90 points.

In its last three games, Denver is allowing an average of 83 points. It limited the Trail Blazers to 85 points on Friday, turned around and held the Warriors to 81 points Saturday, then went home and gave up 83 to the Jazz.

“I think our guys understand the importance of playing to be a playoff team,” Malone said.

To be fair, some luck has been involved. Golden State shot 17-44 on uncontested field goals, according to NBA.com. Utah was even worse, going 14-53 on uncontested shots. Hood, Johnson and Mitchell went a combined 5-22 on contested field goals against Denver. The game could’ve been tighter if half of those shots fell. Even so, the Nuggets are doing a much better job.

Malone has cut minus defenders out of the rotation completely. Juancho Hernangomez has played a total of three minutes in the last six games. Emmanuel Mudiay, who’s ranked 457th out of 457 players in ESPN’s Defensive Real Plus-Minus metric, was available Tuesday but didn’t get in until garbage time. That’s freed up more minutes for Nuggets players who make a positive impact defensively such as Wilson Chandler, Craig and Plumlee.

“It’s been amazing,” Malone said. “We have to give our players a lot of credit. Three games in a row, to defend at that kind of level is outstanding. … If we value the ball like that and defend the way we can defend, I don’t think there’s a team in the league we can’t beat.”

Rematch on deck

One week after they blew a winnable game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Nuggets face their division opponent again. Denver tips off against Minnesota at 6 p.m. tonight at the Target Center in Minneapolis.

This time around, the Nuggets will try to do a better job of protecting the basketball. They committed 21 turnovers in the loss last week. Nikola Jokic was responsible for 10 of them. He’s been much better in the three games since then, averaging 19.3 points on 53.2 percent shooting, 8.3 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 2.3 turnovers.

Nuggets Probable Starters

Jamal Murray, Gary Harris, Wilson Chandler, Nikola Jokic, Mason Plumlee

Timberwolves Probable Starters

Jeff Teague, Jimmy Butler, Andrew Wiggins, Taj Gibson, Karl-Anthony Towns