There’s been no place like the road for the Denver Nuggets the past month. After beating the Sacramento Kings 136-105 on Thursday night, Denver has now won 11 straight road games to improve to 18-6 on the season, and they sit in second place overall in the Western Conference. Conversely, they haven’t won a home game (0-4) in over a month. Go figure.
Back on November 12th, starting guard Christian Braun suffered an ankle sprain against the Los Angeles Clippers that has him on the shelf. Then on November 21st, star forward Aaron Gordon – off to perhaps the best start of his 11-year career – suffered a hamstring injury against Houston and has been out of the lineup ever since. Without two of their best players, the Nuggets have had to dip into a moderately shallow – but much deeper than a year ago – bench pool for reinforcements.
And they’ve gotten good results.
Gordon’s spot in the lineup has been filled by Peyton Watson, the slender defensive specialist who has begun to discover his offensive game with more extended minutes. Watson may be miscast as a power forward, but he’s still a solid rebounder and shot blocker with his great leaping ability. Meanwhile, with Braun sidelined, back up guards Bruce Brown and Tim Hardaway, Jr. have stepped up big – although neither was inserted into the starting lineup. Nuggets head coach David Adelman has opted instead not to mess with the chemistry of his second unit, allowing both Brown and Hardaway Jr. to stay in rhythm. They watch from the bench at the outset, and are witnessing the emergence of undrafted rookie Spencer Jones, who was plucked off the end of the bench and inserted into the starting lineup…with positive results.
The Stanford product has more than held his own during his nine starts. A 6’ 7” forward, Jones has been a dogged defender, especially on the perimeter. That’s helped Denver greatly improve their defense against three point shooters. While he has had issues with being a bit overaggressive and committing too many fouls, Adelman would greatly prefer that to the standing around and watching open outside shots fall night after night.
On offense, while he’s only scored in double figures twice, one of those games was a 26 point outburst against Dallas. His offensive potential is making it hard for opponents to drop off him to double team Nikola Jokic or Jamal Murray, which in turn greatly boosts the league’s top offense.
Jones averaged roughly four minutes of playing time in October, but is averaging 26 minutes per game in December. He’s played well enough to force the Nuggets brass into a quandary.
Jones came into the season on a two-way contract, meaning it’s split between the Denver and their G-League affiliate in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Players on two-way deals can only dress and participate in 50 NBA games, and he’s already played in 20 tilts. That means Denver is either going to have to send him back down to the “minors” so to speak, or offer him a brand new, NBA-only contract.
They don’t have to make that decision right this minute, but with neither Gordon nor Braun expected back before the start of a long post-Christmas road trip, they may want to start drawing it up.
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