Nuggets center Jusuf Nurkic goes up for a shot as Spurs forward Tim Duncan defends on Friday night. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
So what’s the value in Friday’s 102-98 win over San Antonio?
The Nuggets say there was huge value. No matter who was on the court for the Spurs.
“We are the only team in the NBA to beat Golden State and San Antonio (in the same season), which is kind of amazing,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “I don’t care if they rested most of their starters, we still beat them.”
A bit later in the press conference… “I give our guys credit; they did a great job of getting on track tonight. The last three games we got away from who we are and to play this way against San Antonio couldn’t have come at a better time.”
There is no doubt the Nuggets have put together some of the weirdest notes and stats this season, both good and bad. Shake it all out and it displays the up-and-down characteristics of a team still learning how to win consistently, and beyond that, adhere to the detailed items each night that go into winning games.
– As Malone mentioned, they are the only team to date to have beaten both Golden State and San Antonio this season.
– The season in W/L streaks: 5-5, then 6-18, then 11-14, then 10-10 (through Friday’s game).
– 15-25 on the road, which is an improvement over last season’s road record.
– 18-22 at home, which means they can only tie last season’s home record.
– 13-32 vs. playoff teams, better than last season’s 11-34.
– 13-29 vs. +.500 teams; 20-18 vs. sub .500 teams.
– 15-15 vs. the East (11-19 last season).
– 18-32 vs. West, one game off of last season’s 19 wins vs. West opponents.
– 22-32 (.407) pre-All Star.
– 11-15 (.423) post-All Star.
– 30-24 when scoring over 100 points.
– 3-23 when scoring under 100 points.
– By month: 1-1 (October), 5-11 (November), 6-9 (December), 6-9 (January), 5-7 (February), 9-8 (March), 1-2 (April).
As far as pairing Nurkic and Jokic together, this is how the numbers shook out: They combined for 29 points and 24 rebounds. Nurkic scored a career-high 21 points. The duo spent 27 minutes on the court at the same time and the Nuggets were good when they were on it.
Denver scored 57 points in that time and were a plus-17 with the Nurkic/Jokic combo on the court, which is more important to Malone when he evaluates their play. San Antonio scored just 40 points when the duo was on the court and shot just 32.6 percent from the field. The Nuggets grabbed 31 rebounds when they were on the court, good for fourth-most of any of the team’s two-man combos on Friday night.
“I loved it. It was a really good look,” Malone said. “The thing about having them together on the floor, they are both very skilled, they both play away from the basket with their back to the basket, they’re very good passers and they make everyone around them better. Defensively, Nurkic has a great presence. Nikola has length. I was really encouraged by what I saw.”
Follow Chris Dempsey on Twitter @dempseypost or email him at cdempsey@denverpost.com
