PORTLAND, Ore. — Six quarters into last season, Nuggets small forward felt he was at the peak of his game.
Barton had just signed a new 4-year, $54 million contract, believing his starting role and his upward trajectory were secure. Then came an injury on a reverse layup, minutes into the second half of the second game of the season, that left him writhing in pain. Barton suffered a core muscle injury that would require surgery and keep him out until January.
“I felt like I was in the best space as a basketball player I’ve ever been, mentally, physically,” Barton said after reclaiming the starting small forward spot ahead of Wednesday’s season-opening 108-100 win here.
Barton, after losing his starting spot during last year’s postseason, won the open competition at small forward this preseason and poured in 19 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals and a block in his return. His six free throws in the fourth quarter helped salt the game away.
Barton is reflective and appreciative of where he’s at after the devastating setback a year ago.
“I’m a guy that already loved the game, but it made me appreciate it even more,” he said. “It made me want it a little bit more. Two games into the season, everything’s going well for me, new deal, I’m starting, playing well, I’ve got high expectations for myself and the team and everything’s looking good so far, and then ‘Boom, that happens.’”
The joy on his face as the Nuggets ran through layup lines Wednesday night in Moda Center was apparent. Barton couldn’t jog past a teammate without running through a series of handshakes. When his turn came to get loose, he tried tossing in a layup through his legs.
The thing that gnawed at Barton last season as the Nuggets stormed out of the gates 9-1 and then flirted with the No. 1 seed in the West was that he wasn’t part of it. When he finally returned, Barton said he felt like he was trying to make up for the lost time and mesh with a team that had thrived without him.
“Not just the money thing, but the new role that was given to me, everything,” Barton said of his frustration. “More for myself, not for anybody else, just to finally get everything I had dreamed of and wanted and then go out there and show, ‘Hey, this is why.’ I didn’t get to do that last year with the injury, but the good thing about the NBA is itap always a new season, so I can start it this year.”
On Wednesday night, Barton felt a part of it. When Nikola Jokic picked up his third foul just minutes into the first quarter and couldn’t find his rhythm, Barton took over. He attacked the hoop with vengeance and buried a couple 3-pointers.
“He’s Thrill,” Jokic said. “When he plays aggressive, when the shots are coming, he’s a problem.”
So are the Nuggets, whose depth is as good as any team in the league. The Nuggets stuck with the Blazers, who’d won 18 consecutive home openers, even though their MVP candidate, Jokic, had zero points and three rebounds at halftime. In his place, finished with 5 assists, led the bench players with 10 points and 6 rebounds and the Nuggets cooked from the 3-point line, finishing 18 for 32. That was before Jokic and Murray combined for 23 points in the fourth quarter to seize the win.
“We’re loaded, itap no secret,” Barton said.
And unlike last season, when Barton’s injury left him crushed, he’s now an integral piece of the puzzle.
“I like how he’s playing with that starting group, getting off the ball, passing and cutting, and he did look like it was a seamless fit,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “I thought Will’s overall game was fantastic.”
