As the Nuggets were slicing apart Detroitap defense in the first quarter Sunday, cutting and rolling and scoring a season high-tying 44 points, it was impossible not to consider the implications of Thursday’s trade deadline.
Were the Nuggets, as battered as they were entering the game against the Pistons, really about to reel off three stunning wins in a grand total of 64 hours? How would the front office feel about disrupting a team whose depth was its biggest asset heading into the season?
With no (10 games and counting), (14 games and counting), (seven games and counting) and now Michael Porter Jr. on the shelf with an ankle injury, the Nuggets smacked the Pistons for an early 28-7 lead. That onslaught also came without regular starter , who came off the bench after missing the last two games to be present for the birth of his son.
“I was so impressed with the start of the game, on both ends of the floor,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said after the overtime loss. “And we went to our bench, and right when we went to our bench, the bottom fell out. I didn’t feel those guys were ready to come in and play at the same level the starters were.”
It was against Harris, , , P.J. Dozier and that the Pistons scored 21 points in less than five minutes to get back in the game.
With Thursday’s 1 p.m. trade deadline looming, itap impossible to separate the on court entity from the possibilities swirling on the rumor mill. Harris and Beasley remain at the center of that speculation, both viewed as potential pieces in a deal for New Orleans’ Jrue Holiday. Multiple outlets have reported Denver’s interest in the standout two-way guard. A move of such magnitude would signal a changing of the guard in the backcourt — Harris is the longest tenured Nugget and a pillar in the locker room — and indicate the team believes it has a shot to win the title this year.
And not to make too much of a small sample size, but Beasley was invaluable in the Nuggets’ victory over Milwaukee, later deemed the win of the year. Would they be better served hanging onto him?
Harris’ return
It wasn’t a surprise to see Harris come off the bench in his return, since Malone has done it before when easing guys back into rhythm. He’s still on a minutes restriction as a result of his adductor strain, which kept him out for five games in mid-January. But against the Pistons, Harris played 31 minutes and was just 1 of 6 from the field with three rebounds and two turnovers. He’s averaging a career-low 10.5 points per game (save for his rookie season), and his shooting percentages are also far below his career averages. It was only two years ago that he averaged 17.5 points on nearly 40% shooting from 3-point range.
“No, the training staff has a minutes restriction, and sometimes I make my own,” Malone said of Harris. “I definitely went over it tonight, but I was constantly checking with Gary and our staff about, ‘Is he OK?’ Itap just good to have Gary back. Obviously, being there for the birth of his child, his son, was a great opportunity. Now he’s back. He struggled a little bit tonight, thatap to be expected, probably hasn’t touched a ball in the last couple of days, at home being a father. We’ll get him right, and he’ll get back to playing at a high level for us.”
Stand pat at the deadline?
Despite all the injuries, the Nuggets went 11-5 in January — their most wins of any month this year. There were signature wins vs. Dallas, Golden State, Utah and Milwaukee.
In the wake of Sunday’s overtime loss to Detroit, was asked what insight he had gleaned from their grueling January.
“We are a really good team, as a team, as a group,” Jokic said. “The guys who are stepping up, they are not selfish.”
offered another endorsement of this team’s makeup.
“We probably aren’t all on social media. We’re just an under-the-radar team. We just play all together,” Morris said. “We don’t have one guy dribbling 50 times, things like that, shooting 30 time. … People get spoiled with just one or two guys taking up the load. We got a collective effort. Some people say itap boring, but if you’re a real basketball fan and you know whatap going on, itap great basketball to watch.”
