BOSTON — What happened in the fourth quarter of the Nuggets’ latest road heist could be reduced to one name, in the opinion of Jamal Murray.
“Zeke Nnaji. That’s what happened,” he said after a 114-110 win over the Celtics.
“He was playing amazing defense.”
Against the second-best offense in the NBA (behind Denver), for that matter. Against Jaylen Brown, who was fresh off a 50-point game amid a sneaky MVP candidacy. Against “everybody,” as Nuggets coach David Adelman pointed out.
And notably, while operating as a center, the position that has vexed Nnaji in recent years. Adelman was making a point to use him almost entirely as a power forward this season, until injuries to Nikola Jokic and Jonas Valanciunas left him no other choice. Minutes are minutes. This week, Nnaji is making the most of his. DaRon Holmes II has been starting games at the five; Nnaji has been closing them.
“I don’t remember him moving this well. …He guarded everybody in this game, because we were switching,” Adelman said Wednesday. “Just cool to see him have some success. Obviously, he hasn’t been in the rotation.”
Nnaji helped cement wins at Philadelphia while down seven rotation players and Boston while down three — a pair of season-affirming wins for the Nuggets (25-12) as they try to prove something to themselves and others without Jokic. Nnaji anchored the lineup that took over the game with a 14-0 run Wednesday, holding the Celtics scoreless for more than four minutes.
“We needed him to do a lot, honestly,” Murray said. “Rebound, switch, box out, run the floor, set screens hard, roll hard. Offensive rebound. Like, he’s in every single action, offense and defense. He felt like the key to our win today. ”
Lineups with Nnaji next to a more traditional center were noticeably more effective than lineups using Nnaji as the five last season. And it wasn’t just a side-effect of sharing the floor with Jokic. When Nnaji and DeAndre Jordan played together, Denver’s net rating was 13.4 in 122 minutes, according to PBP Stats. With Nnaji and Jokic, it was 14.9 in 244 minutes. When Nnaji was on his own, without either? The Nuggets were minus 21.7 in 243 minutes.
“To be honest, I really haven’t thought about that at all. I’m just kind of out there playing,” Nnaji told The Denver Post. “I feel like just my rhythm, my flow within the team has been great. Whether I’m playing the four or playing the five, it’s like, we’re just playing together.”
Nnaji turned in a career game in Philly. He filled up the box score with 21 points and eight rebounds, splashing 3-pointers and pounding the rock against subsequent close-outs to the perimeter. His dribble-drive game was one of the levers that opened up Denver’s scoring.
With Murray, Tim Hardaway Jr., Aaron Gordon and Christian Braun all back in the lineup Wednesday, Nnaji was never going to have the ball in his hands as frequently. But the confidence carried over nonetheless.
“It manifests in different ways,” he said. “Maybe last game, I had more shots. This game, I didn’t have as many shots, but I’m still trying to have that same activity level, that same impact on the floor, no matter what my role is.”
Confidence has always been an essential ingredient for him. The physical gifts have been evident throughout Nnaji’s six-year career in Denver. His ability to apply them has wavered.
“Everybody played like they’ve been in the rotation, starting the whole year (in the Philadelphia win). There was a confidence to their games,” Adelman said. “I’d rather have guys fail going extremely hard and playing with extreme confidence than just trying not to screw up. And I think that’s the biggest thing for Zeke. Just be who you are.”
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Denver won Nnaji’s minutes by six points — another source of confidence for him to draw from as January goes on. The Nuggets are still early in their war of injury attrition. They’ll have to keep leaning on Nnaji for center minutes while Jokic and Valanciunas are out.
For now, he’s excelling by not focusing on the position.
“You don’t have to think about it so much,” Nnaji said. “… I’m not really thinking.”
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