A team doesn’t go from having one of the worst defenses in the NBA to being the 1998-99 San Antonio Spurs overnight, so Nuggets coach Michael Malone laughed at the prospect of his team being near a wholly acceptable defensive product at this time.
Sure, the defensive numbers have been good — really good, in fact. But preseason plays into it. That fact opponents have held out starters against the Nuggets plays into it. And there have been substandard defensive quarters that have flat-out horrified the coach.
“Sometimes you get a little false sense of security,” Malone said Monday with a grin. ” ‘Eh, we’re a really good defensive team!’ OK, well let’s go check it out against the world champions and see how well we do in their building.”
That team is Golden State, the Nuggets’ opponent in their fourth preseason game Tuesday night at Oracle Arena. These Denver numbers will be tested — opponents are averaging just 94.3 points, 38.1 percent shooting from the field and even worse (29 percent) from the 3-point line. The Nuggets are forcing 19 turnovers per game, 11.3 of which are steals.
“That has been our focus since Day One,” Nuggets forward Danilo Gallinari said. “We know that we can be a very good defensive team.”
Whereas 30-point quarters were a regular occurrence for opponents last season, the Nuggets are working to eliminate that trend. They’ve allowed 30 or more points in just three of the 12 quarters they’ve played.
But the buy-in from the players has been most eye-opening.
“It’s exciting,” Nuggets forward Kenneth Faried said. “Even if I’m not on the court and I’m just watching it, it’s exciting to watch. I’m getting up for my teammates, cheering like always. It’s a reason to cheer.
“We’re really trying to buy in and play defense and play team defense — everybody is covering for each other, everybody is looking out for each other. It’s fun to watch, and it’s fun to be a part of.”
Malone was irked at how his team finished defensively against the Chicago Bulls last week, allowing 60 points in the second half in a 112-94 Denver win, but he was pleased with the overall performance.
“If I could bottle up that second quarter (13 points by the Bulls) and stretch that out to 48 minutes,” Malone said, “you’ll see a very happy man.”
Golden State, however, provides the challenge the Nuggets need. It is an unforgiving team, one that punishes opponents for defensive mistakes both large and small. Last season’s NBA MVP, Stephen Curry, already appears to be in regular-season form. He scored 30 points in just 25 minutes, including six 3-pointers, in the Warriors’ 118-101 loss Thursday at Portland.
“You always want to measure yourself against the best,” Malone said. “And part of the preseason is using that to see where we’re at, what are our weakness, what are our strengths and what we really need to focus on and address in practice. Every game is just another litmus test to see where we are at.”
Christopher Dempsey: cdempsey@denverpost.com or @dempseypost
