The Denver Nuggets notched their third consecutive win Saturday night, rallying to beat Dallas 91-89 thanks to strong defense down the stretch and a triple-double from Nikola Jokic that included the game-winning shot.
Here are eight takeaways from the win:
1. Murray benched. Though Jamal Murray and Michael Malone did not specify what team rule Murray violated, the second-year point guard owned his mistake and punishment. Malone said Murray had a similar reaction when the coach decided Murray would not start.
“Coach did what he had to,” Murray said. “I put him in a tough position, and he made the right decision to bring him off the bench.”
Added Malone: “For a young kid, he’s very mature … hopefully he learns from it. The biggest thing is no player on our team, not just Jamal, is ever more important than anybody else. You can’t do things that hurt your team.”
Murray struggled after coming off the bench in the first half, going 0-of-3 from the floor and committing three turnovers in 11 minutes. But he (again) hit his stride in the fourth quarter, scoring 10 of his 15 points.
“He found his rhythm (and) got us going,” Malone said. “We needed all his plays in that second half.”
2. Touch and go. The highlight of Jokic’s big night was, naturally, an assist late in the first half. Gary Harris lobbed a pass to Jokic, who looked like he was getting ready to post up with his back to the basket near the left elbow. Instead, Jokic tipped the ball over his shoulder to a cutting Trey Lyles for a dunk.
“While I’m catching the ball, I’m kind of looking the court at everybody and finding the open guy quickly,” Jokic said. “That was actually a good call by me.”
Harris had a more dramatic explanation for how Jokic makes such sensational passes.
“He has eyes in the back of his head,” Harris said.
3. The “unsung hero.” On the surface, Mason Plumlee had a mixed night against the Mavericks. He went 3-of-7 from the floor, including getting blocked one of his trademark reverse dunks and missing an alley-oop slam. The improved spacing while Plumlee and Jokic shared the floor that Malone raved about following the Knicks win was not as apparent Saturday — though the Nuggets’ entire offense was spottier during the 91-point outing. But Malone lauded Plumlee’s interior defense, including the block on Dennis Smith Jr. on the Mavericks’ final possession. Then Malone launched into a mini rant about outsiders who have criticized Plumlee’s individual play and the starting tandem with Jokic while Paul Millsap recovers from wrist surgery.
“I don’t know why people love to, on these freakin’ blogs and posts, they kill Mason Plumlee,” Malone said. “And they kill Mason and Nikola together … We don’t win that game without Mason Plumlee. He does the dirty work for this team. He’s the unsung hero of this team. And I think people gotta get off his (darn) back.”
4. Speaking up. Harris again efficiently led the Nuggets in scoring, totaling 24 points on 8-of-16 from the field and 3-of-7 from 3-point range. But what perhaps most impressed Malone was how Harris spoke up when the Nuggets “started to fray a little bit” while struggling. Harris’ personality is pretty reserved, but Malone has said multiple times that he would like to see Harris develop into a stronger leader.
“I heard Gary in the huddles tonight,” Malone said. “I think thatap a huge step in his maturation. He’s a great player. He’s a young player. But now use your voice and (don’t) be afraid to use it and get on. Tonight, he was positive. He held guys together. He kept his team together.”
Added Harris: “(I was) just trying to make sure everybody was locked in. We had to get this win. It was great. If we were going to win, we all had to be on the same page.”
5. Torrey’s time. With Will Barton moving from starting small forward to starting point guard in Murray’s absence and Wilson Chandler missing the game’s second half with a migraine headache, two-way rookie Torrey Craig got his highest minutes total since mid-December. He finished with nine points (3-of-5 field goals) and four rebounds while defending Harrison Barnes, Wesley Matthews and even Smith at times. Malone also praised Craig’s energy and the way he moved without the ball.
“He did everything that was asked of him tonight,” Malone said. “ … Itap great to see him out there contributing to the cause and playing with confidence. I don’t want guys out there just playing not to make a mistake. I want you to go out there and play the game.”
6. Interesting stats.
* Barton led the Nuggets with a plus-minus rating of plus-21, finishing with 11 points on 3-of-7 shooting and five rebounds in 39 minutes.
* The Nuggets, who rank fifth in the NBA with 48.1 points in the paint per game, totaled a season-low 28 against the Mavericks.
* Denver held an opponent to fewer than 100 points for the 15th time this season, improving to 13-2 in those games. They also held an opponent to 89 points or less for the eighth time, after doing that just six times over the previous two seasons.
* The Nuggets are 6-2 in games decided by three points or less, with two of those wins coming against Dallas. Denver is also 9-11 in what the NBA defines as “clutch” games — contests with a margin of five points or less with less than five minutes to play.
* Denver’s current three-game winning streak ties for its longest of the season. Getting a fourth win in a row will be tough with the Celtics coming to town Monday on the heels of a 109-105 loss at Golden State Saturday night.
7. The Deodorant Chronicles. An interesting back-and-forth between Jokic and equipment manager Sparky Gonzales has emerged this week. Following Thursday’s game, Jokic jokingly complained that Gonzales had given him spray deodorant that smelled and looked like a chemical used to kill mosquitos. Gonzales’ counter? Stuffing Jokic’s locker after Saturday’s game with four types of Dove deodorant designed for women. Jokic put some on anyway, saying “they smell nice” but “I’m not using those at home, maybe.” But about three minutes into his media session, he abruptly stopped to sniff his right armpit.
“Actually, that smells really good,” Jokic said.
8. Quotable.
Malone on how Murray gets a jolt of energy when his shot starts falling: “Itap like Popeye eating spinach. All of a sudden, he feels really good about himself.”
Harris on Jokic’s triple-double: “He’s just so good, you just don’t even notice. You look up (at the scoreboard) and he’s on triple-double watch and you’re like, ‘Wow.’ He makes it look easy.”
