Denver coach Michael Malone has stuck with his plan to develop his bench despite its early struggles, and now it is paying off for the Nuggets.
Denver’s reserves scored a season-high 58 points in in a 124-101 win over the visiting Brooklyn Nets on Thursday, allowing Malone to rest his star players. Now Nikola Jokic and company are well rested and ready for the challenge of hosting the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday night.
It is the second meeting of the season between the Northwest Division rivals. The Nuggets won by 33 points at Oklahoma City on Oct. 29.
That was just the third NBA game for heralded Thunder rookie Chet Holmgren, who scored 19 points in the loss. Holmgren, along with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, are the building blocks of Oklahoma City’s future — and present.
The Thunder are coming off a 128-123 road loss against the Sacramento Kings on Thursday, when Gilgeous-Alexander’s 43 points and nine rebounds weren’t enough.
Gilgeous-Alexander has been a top-tier player for a couple of years and finished fifth in the MVP voting last season. He ranks in the top five in the NBA in scoring at 31 points a game and is stating his case to get more consideration for this year’s MVP award.
If he were to capture MVP honors, he would be the third player to win it playing for the Thunder. Kevin Durant captured the honor in 2013-14, and Russell Westbrook was selected in 2016-17.
“Those guys have done tremendous things, things guys dream about,” Gilgeous-Alexander told the Oklahoman. “For me to even sit there and think and compare would be wasting my time. There’s no point. My brain doesn’t even get there.
“What I want to accomplish with the game, that comes with it. I see it as a privilege that I get to carry the load or lead the team.”
Denver has two MVP awards and both belong to Jokic (2020-21, 2021-22), who is having another season worthy of his third. He notched his 10th triple-double of the season with 26 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists in the win over the Nets and needed just three quarters to do it. He was rested late after being ejected in the second quarter of a win at Chicago on Tuesday night.
The Nuggets led by 23 heading into the fourth quarter on Thursday, and the bench stayed even with the Nets over the final 12 minutes.
“There’s a rhythm growing game by game, night by night,” said Denver rookie Julian Strawther, who has seen his minutes rise recently. “We found our confidence and found out how to play with each other, so everything is going in the right direction.”
It helps to have a veteran who can step in and give a boost. Small forward Justin Holiday has appeared in just 15 games, but he started Thursday in place of the injured Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and had four steals in 27 minutes.
Holiday could get called upon again Saturday night. Malone said Caldwell-Pope, who was in concussion protocol, would miss his second game but hopes to have him back against the Dallas Mavericks on Monday night. If Caldwell-Pope is able to return, he would give Malone his full complement of starters, which has been a rarity for the reigning champions.
–Field Level Media