Instant observations as the Nuggets defeated the Raptors 112-108 in their second preseason game Monday night at Rogers Arena in Vancouver.
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Denver’s starters looked a little rusty as a unit in their first preseason minutes together Saturday. Two days later, the rust was gone for the most part. Turnovers still piled up — Nikola Jokic committed six — but ball movement was generally more fluid and crisp.
Peyton Watson and Christian Braun made smart reads as connectors (Watson started for Aaron Gordon, who took the night off for maintenance). Cam Johnson played on the ball a bit more than he did in the first exhibition. On an early possession, he recognized that no entry pass to Jokic was available, used his dribble to put pressure on the rim instead, kicked out to Watson, then relocated for an open catch-and-shoot 3-pointer.
And Jokic was in full experimentation mode. One of his most avant-garde passes was a side-armed, no-look fastball curling around the baseline to successfully reach Johnson in the corner. (He missed the 3.) Another was a reverse over-the-head attempt to find a cutter in stride, but that one was nowhere close to a completion. That’s what the preseason is for.
Pressure release search
The Nuggets finished at an extraordinary clip in Vancouver. They were shooting over 60% from the floor for most of the game, including an 8-for-8 performance from Braun (19 points, three 3s), a 5-for-5 night from Jokic and a mini-collection of tough 3s off the dribble from Jamal Murray, still the preseason MVP so far.
Starting plays, not finishing them, is the tricky part right now. Especially when Murray isn’t on the floor.
Toronto showed full-court pressure most of the night, and Denver’s backups often struggled to get the ball up the floor and initiate offense cleanly. Five bench players turned the ball over multiple times, led by Bruce Brown’s four. He might just need some time to reacclimate to his point guard role with the Nuggets, but handling intense ball pressure has been a collective issue for the bench so far. Can Jalen Pickett be a consistent answer? Julian Strawther? Even Peyton Watson is handling the ball more than ever through two games.
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With Watson sliding into the starting lineup, David Adelman played a four-guard bench lineup around Jonas Valanciunas in lieu of slotting in a more size-appropriate backup four like DaRon Holmes II, Zeke Nnaji or Spencer Jones. (The main second unit was made up of Pickett, Strawther, Tim Hardaway Jr., Brown and Valanciunas.)
That might say more about the current pecking order than anything else. Back from his torn Achilles tendon, Holmes seems to understandably be a work in progress rather than an instant plug-and-play rookie. He did check in and knock down a couple of huge 3-pointers late in the fourth quarter as Denver held off a late comeback, though.
Also somewhat worthy note: Hardaway has been Adelman’s first sub into the game in both exhibitions so far (with Watson on Saturday, alone on Monday).
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