Julian Strawther took his seat on the bench Monday night not knowing whether he would have an opportunity to play more minutes than usual, with Jamal Murray injured.
The rookie definitely didn’t expect he’d be strutting along the sideline after a heat-check 3-pointer in the middle of a stirring comeback that he helped ignite.
“Obviously you know that there are minutes up for grabs, but you don’t know where they’re gonna go,” Strawther said after scoring 21 points across 19 minutes in a 134-116 Nuggets win. “That was not something that was communicated to me pregame.”
Once the Nuggets were trailing by double digits in the second quarter, sorely missing Murray, it made sense to have an extra shooter on the floor who could at least give Denver a chance to match the Pelicans’ lineup of flamethrowers. Even while the team was shooting 2-for-15 from 3-point range.
Strawther is self-aware about his job and the circumstances.
“Come in, provide a spark, make shots,” he said.
Between his second quarter entrance and his fourth-quarter strut — the reaction to his final three points, which gave the Nuggets a 113-100 lead — Strawther went on an 8-for-10 shooting rampage.
“Surreal moment for sure. When you get drafted to the Nuggets, you don’t know what things are gonna look like for you in your rookie year,” he said. “But those are the moments you envision in your head. You’re always gonna have yourself doing something spectacular, crowd going crazy. Thatap what you want.”
The Julian Strawther Game.
— Nuggets World 🌎 (@NuggetsWorldd)
In order for Strawther to spark Denver’s stunning 38-point swing, he first needed his own spark from someone.
At this peak stage in Nikola Jokic’s career, Nuggets coach Michael Malone views his necessary areas of growth in the abstract. “It’s hard to say he’s gotten better because he’s been so great for so long,” as Malone puts it.
So the most productive way to continue challenging Jokic to improve is to implore him to be emotionally invested in his teammates’ growth. In a game like this one, Malone could see the evolution.
“The greatest gift we can give any of our young players is confidence,” Malone said. “… I see Nikola grabbing guys and talking to them. Last game against Chicago, helping Collin Gillespie: ‘Hey man, if I’m open in the post, bring the ball over here.’ Small things. What a great feeling for a young player.
“Empowering people is pretty cool, and I think Nikola does a good job of empowering those around him.”
In the language of Jokic, empowerment extends to decisions and tendencies on the court, not just verbal encouragement or instruction. The second quarter against New Orleans was a subtle example.
As the Pelicans built a 20-point lead, Jordan Hawkins had Strawther chasing him around the floor, including one possession when the Gonzaga product couldn’t weave through screens fast enough. A corner three, part of Hawkins’ 31-point night that had Kentavious Caldwell-Pope comparing him to Buddy Hield postgame, made it 53-35 at the time.
Hawkins and Strawther became friends as part of the same draft class this year, after Hawkins’ UConn Huskies demolished Strawther’s Zags in the Elite Eight. “He got the best of me there, so couldn’t let that happen twice,” Strawther said. “Last time I played him I think I was 0-for-6 from three, so definitely not tonight.”
Enter Jokic. Strawther had made one 3-pointer earlier in the quarter when Jokic checked in. In their shared minutes, they operated with the offensive chemistry of two players who had been competing together much longer than two weeks.
After Jokic snapped his own 0-for-4 start beyond the arc, he brought it up and strolled toward Strawther on the right wing Denver’s next possession, nodding at the rookie as if giving his own signature of approval. Strawther circled to receive the dribble handoff while Jokic’s matchup, Jonas Valanciunas, didn’t hesitate about his assignment. He stayed tight on the center, not sliding to switch onto Strawther temporarily and deny the three. Jokic was too much of a threat to abandon him. Strawther’s defender, Matt Ryan, got caught on the pick. An open look made it 61-47.
So the next possession? Jokic had the ball in the corner while Strawther was spotted up on the opposite wing. Jokic heaved a cross-court pass, inviting Strawther to get hot. He drained another.
The Nuggets struggled to get stops in the quarter, but that sequence alone was enough to plant the idea of a comeback, narrowing the deficit to 12 at halftime.
“(Jokic) attracts so much attention on the court. For a shooter like me, thatap my dream,” Strawther said. “For him to even have the trust to make skip passes to me and expect me to make shots, thatap huge.”
It didn’t even matter that Jokic wasn’t sharing the floor with Strawther the next time the rookie checked in — at that point trying to protect a lead into the fourth. It didn’t matter that there was no longer a two-time MVP drawing all the attention. Because, as Strawther describes it: “After the first two go in, itap kind of, ‘How many can you make?’”
He sought out his own shots. He scored 12 more points without Jokic. By then, he was already empowered.
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