Nuggets guard Emmanuel Mudiay drives for a shot during the first meeting between the two teams this season. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
INDIANAPOLIS — A solid end to this road trip depends on shoring up some areas the Nuggets let get away from them even during a win at Washington on Thursday.
Things like fast break points, rebounds — particularly on the offensive glass, and turnovers to an extent. The Nuggets allowed a season-high 37 fast break points to the Wizards, 24 more than they allow on average. They were outrebounded in the game, which means that was just the second time all season the Nuggets won when being outrebounded.
And the Nuggets allowed 19 second chance points, seven more than normal.
“That can’t transfer, we’ve got to do a better job in that area,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “It’s really weird, our last opponents — Atlanta, Boston, Washington, and now Indiana — are all top four in the NBA in steals and points off turnovers. So I feel like I’m saying the same thing every game. But, obviously, it’s very appropriate for the teams that we’ve been playing. We have to make sure we value the ball, not give them easy baskets.”
Solid offense saw the Nuggets through on Thursday night. Malone would love to see a repeat of that.
“The things that worked for us: Offensively we had 25 assists, shot 50 percent from the field, shot 50 percent from the 3-point line and got to the foul line a bunch. So offensively I think we were pretty good most of the night. We just can’t turn it over as much as we did in the second half. We did a good job in the first half. I thought our bench played really well. Hopefully our bench can give us some productivity, some energy.”
If the execution is good again, the Nuggets may find some openings against Indiana. The Pacers have been good in their last two games defensively, allowing 91.5 points in those games, but they’ve struggled on that end overall in the last couple of weeks. The Pacers have allowed 107.1 points in their last eight, and opponents are shooting 44.7 percent from the field and 36.3 from 3-point range in that span.
The Nuggets will get center Joffrey Lauvergne back into the lineup. He’s missed the last couple of games with a toe injury. Lauvergne participated in shootaround Saturday morning and is good to go for the Nuggets, who will have 14 healthy bodies for one of the few times this season.
“I think he’s moving a lot better and he feels better,” Malone said. “So I think he’ll be able to give it a go tonight.”
Follow Chris Dempsey on Twitter @dempseypost or email him at cdempsey@denverpost.com
