RealGM

Jokic vs Favors - interesting
Grant vs. Williamson - interesting
Barton vs Ingram - not so good for us
Harris vs Holiday - interesting
Morris vs Ball - okay

Strange game, especially since Malone is ejected, but a win is a win. The difference between this game and those two were Pelicans beat us is this time we didn't underestimate NOP because playing without 3 important players we are not so bold favorites. 24 off rebounds (35 2nd chance pts!), 14 steals, and FT 20-20 (18-30 Pells) is the key. If we ignore Joker, the man of the match is surprisingly Craig.

1st quarter - decent offense, not great defense
2nd quarter - Not impressive but we played them even with lots minutes from our deep bench
3rd quarter - a little rough to start the quarter but Jokic, Barton, and the bench turned it around
4th quarter - Little offense - not much defense - but we held on to win

7 FTs in the first quarter - 6 in 2nd & 3rd combined - 7 in the 4th quarter
Shooting pct dropping from 50% in 1st quarter to 38% by the end of the game - It seems when like FTAs go up, so does FG%

Offensive rebounding numbers were outstanding - probably the most significant stat in the game :: Jokic had 7 and Grant had 6

Overall rebounding was very nice also :: Jokic with 12, Porter with 10, Craig with 10, Grant with 9, Barton & Harris with 5 each

Malone had some interesting lineups
Grant - Hernangomez - Porter as the frontline and switching makes a ton of sense.
Dozier - Beasley - Hernangomez - Porter - Vanderbilt :: Lots of energy
I like Vanderbilt's energy.

One of the things I really like about Porter; he doesn't always just stand there and watch his shot go to the bucket. He frequently follows his shot to the bucket, just in case it bounces out. Too many players just stand there posing to show how pretty they are.

Lots of length at forward with Millsap, Grant, Vanderbilt, Porter, Hernangomez, Craig all at 7' or better wingspan. Add Jokic's 7'3" wingspan and Dozier's 7' wingspan - wow!

Then think about the athleticism: Grant, Vanderbilt, Porter, Barton, Craig, Harris, Beasley, Murray, Dozier are all top-notch athletically and Plumlee, Millsap, Hernangomez, Morris aren't too shabby either.

The future is looking good.

If the Nuggets played with the energy they showed in this game, they would have won a lot more earlier.