Jan 19, 2017; San Antonio, TX, USA; Denver Nuggets shooting guard Jamal Murray (27) reacts after a shot against the San Antonio Spurs during the first half at AT&T Center. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports
The Denver Nuggets completed the season series sweep against Phoenix despite a rocky start.
The Denver Nuggets overcame a slow start to eventually prevail over the Phoenix Suns. As a result, they completed the season series sweep.
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Despite being without their best player in Nikola Jokic, the Nuggets saw a multitude of players step up in his absence.
Starters, bench players, rookies, you name it, all had a huge role in the win. The biggest impact came from Danilo Gallinari who poured in a game high 32 points for the Nuggets.
I recently wrote on how Gallo had been consistent as of late and that he would become the first scoring option during Jokic’s absence. It looks as if this was true in the final game against Phoenix for the season.
What is even sweeter about this win is that the Nuggets build an even bigger lead over the Trail Blazers for the final playoff spot considering Portland lost their last game.
Without further speculation, let’s see the 3 best performers from the Phoenix game.
Jan 16, 2017; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Nuggets forward Kenneth Faried (35) dunks the ball during the first half against the Orlando Magic at Pepsi Center. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports
Kenneth Faried-A
The Manimal is someone who has also regained form lately, just like Gallinari.
In this game, he showed toughness and determination. He even refused to be bullied by the taller Alex Len when Len became frustrated by Faried’s pesky defense.
Good for you Manimal. He finished with a nice defensive stat line that showcased 2 steals and 2 blocks. That wasn’t even the end.
Faried ended the game with the best player differential at +21 and poured in an incredible 21 points. Clearly, he was unfazed by the altercation. Oh, and top of that he hit a good portion of his free throws shooting 81% from the line.
A monster double-double of 21 points and 13 rebounds had a lot to do with the fact that receives an A for this game.
Dec 5, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray (27) celebrates with guard Malik Beasley (L) after his three pointer against the Philadelphia 76ers during the second half at Wells Fargo Center. The Denver Nuggets won 106-98. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Jamal Murray-A
The rookie showed out in this game! He shot an outstanding 70% from the field.
18 points doesn’t hurt either. His player differential of +11 shows how efficient he was tonight and tells why the Nuggets drafted him.
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Murray was also money from beyond the arc as well. As a result, this really stretched the Phoenix defense.
If he can continue to develop, he along with Jokic, Harris, and Mudiay will be a scary good core in the near future.
With Mudiay still out, the rookie has been making the most of his minutes and polishing his game quite nicely.
Hopefully, we will see more of this in the future from the young gun because he is very electric and exciting to watch.
Jan 16, 2017; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Nuggets forward Danilo Gallinari (8) reacts after making a three point basket during the second half against the Orlando Magic at Pepsi Center. The Nuggets won 125-112. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports
Danilo Gallinari-A+
Gallinari really deserves the best grade after this performance. After scoring 32 points and grabbing 8 boards, it is difficult to find a flaw in his performance after this game.
He may have only had 1 assist, but with the way the team was rolling in the 2nd half, he was going with the flow and picking his spots.
With Jokic out, the Nuggets needed to find scoring from a different source and they found it in the Rooster. He shot 64% from the field. What was even more amazing was his 60% shooting from the arc! Gallinari is kind of a poor man’s Carmelo Anthony when you think about it and he was doing his best Melo impersonation scoring wise for this game.
Oh, and since it wouldn’t be fair to leave out a couple of other players who did well, we are going to give a special mention to Gary Harris and Jameer Nelson.
They also had big impacts, I just felt the 3 I listed deserved the best grades from this game in particular.
