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I would prefer that some of the guys take a rest (one or two games off) before play off starts. Specially Jokic and Millsap. Actually I do think Jokic is fatigued since beginning of April and having him 100% is the key to have a long play off run.

Millsap is 34 and has no clear substitute, he should also take a break. The rest of the guys are very young and have a capable backup option, they could play 20-25 minutes per game with good overall team performance.

The question is...when should Jokic or Millsap rest? At home must win games (DET, WAS, MIN)? Away games as they all will be very tough to win? Tonight @NYK looks a very good option.

I would personally rest these two guys tonight and @GSW. Even @UTA if 2nd seed is already clinched or can be clinched with a W agains MIN.

It's not in Malone's nature to ever "take it easy". He drives to win every game, every quarter, every play. IMO this causes him to miss time to play younger players (garbage time) and have players playing through injuries.

On the other hand, letting players have time off just doesn't seem too important because once the regular season ends, there are lots of days off, especially in the first two rounds.

I think Malone should give Barton and Thomas plenty of rest.

U hova wrote:I think Malone should give Barton and Thomas plenty of rest.

I think resting players will shake out when/if it becomes clear that Denver won't get the first seed. It's worth the effort to get the first seed to have home court in the event of a WC finals against Golden State. But if, say, we find ourselves with 4 games left and two out of first, with no chance of falling to third, they should definitely rest players.

Quite opposite. Malone already missed the opportunity this season to teach his franchise player Nikola Jokic to play 35+ minutes on a permanent basis, so Joker is the only all-star player right now with such 'problem'. Millsap is old, but not too old, and he is a well-known player for his great physical shape. I heard on this forum also complains about Jamal Murray fatigue, but for me, his 2019 problems are not fatigue symptoms but more like mindset problems of the young player. In 2019 alone Murray numbers are clearly better in the 2nd half than before halftime (9.8ppg/57ts% vs 7.8ppg/52ts%) so his game not falling but rises during the time, and also, just like in Jokic or Millsap cases, Murray per minute production is not any worse in the games where his playing time is bigger.

In normal circumstances, I would support resting-strategy at the end of the regular season, but we are a team with 30-6 (83%) record at home and 19-16 (54%) on the road, so our priority must be to stay TOP2 seed and grab the home-court advantage and considering our schedule (HOU/POR too) that job is still not done yet. And I'm not even dreaming about 2019 title, it is all is on hands of GSW goat team, but about eventual WC final in which case would be tied franchise biggest success.

No resting now with Denver potentially in first place.

So resting guys in the NYK game, did it come back to bite us in the IND game ?

Who was rested in the NYK game? All starters played from 25-33 minutes.

I know as long as seed 1 is possible, Malone will keep using Jokic and Millsap. Resting those guys does not ensure they will perform better during PO, but as winning all home games is sufficient to be 2nd seed and first is not option due to our tough schedule, I would prefer resting Jokic. He has played every single game (except PHO at home) with a huge worload.

I am talking about 1-2 games, not shutting him down ROS

If Malone does rest some players, who needs a game off the most? Everyone seems to talk about Jokic and he might be the one who most needs the rest. Millsap seems okay but what about Harris? Have his injuries of this year all healed? What about Murray? He appears to have enough energy. Anyone else?

NuggetsWY wrote:If Malone does rest some players, who needs a game off the most? Everyone seems to talk about Jokic and he might be the one who most needs the rest. Millsap seems okay but what about Harris? Have his injuries of this year all healed? What about Murray? He appears to have enough energy. Anyone else?

Need to rest IT and Lyles as much as possible

NuggetsWY wrote:If Malone does rest some players, who needs a game off the most? Everyone seems to talk about Jokic and he might be the one who most needs the rest. Millsap seems okay but what about Harris? Have his injuries of this year all healed? What about Murray? He appears to have enough energy. Anyone else?

Jokic, Millsap and Murray.

All starters beyond 33 minutes and Millsap 40 minutes. Difficult to explain, specially after having an epic offense collapse in the second half. If you don´t give minutes to Juancho or Vanderbilt (even Plumlee should get more than his regular 20 mins) when leading +20....

9 games in 14 days coming up right before play off.

Barton really needs to rest, say maybe the next 5 games and then a 15 minute per game minute restriction, that way if the front office wakes up and trades him he will be fully healthy and ready to contribute next year.

Managing rotations has always been an issue with Malone. He does not like using young players and he loves, loves, loves his chosen couple of players. Remember when he did not like using Jokic? Murray? He does not like using his bench during garbage time whether the Nuggets are leading or losing.

As long as we are currently for 1st in the West and he's not going to give anyone rest (my prediction).

More important than resting and even minutes restrictions is Malone's inability to keep the team motivated. This good-quarter followed by one or two bad quarters and/or a couple of bad quarters followed by a good quarter is probably draining on the players.

Of course Murray will want to play, but I sure do hope they give him a couple games to rest that ankle.

There are 2-3 days between games early in the post-season. At this point, if someone is injured sure they should rest but if they're just banged up they're gonna have to fight through a few more games. If the last 1-2 don't impact our seeding then resting makes sense.

Powder Blue wrote:There are 2-3 days between games early in the post-season. At this point, if someone is injured sure they should rest but if they're just banged up they're gonna have to fight through a few more games. If the last 1-2 don't impact our seeding then resting makes sense.

True words but if we are playing poorly, resting makes no sense - we need to get our act together.