Prior to Game 5 between the Denver Nuggets and the San Antonio Spurs, Michael Malone talked about the importance of his team delivering an early punch to its opponent.
“I think it's important for us to win the first quarter, but also not to just match the intensity and aggressiveness, but to exceed it,” the Nuggets head coach said. “We've got to come out with a hit-first mentality once again.”
Denver would respond to its coach’s message by having San Antonio on the ropes for most of Tuesday night’s action in a 108-90 win.
Jamal Murray led all scorers with 23 points and added seven assists with four rebounds. The Spurs were paced by LaMarcus Aldridge and DeMar DeRozan, with both players scoring 17 points.
The Nuggets would take a 14-11 lead in the first quarter and wouldn’t look back in front of boisterous crowd at Pepsi Center. The hosts would build their advantage to 30 points in the third quarter. Their defense continued their strong recent showing as they held the visitors to 41.1 percent shooting.
Malone praised the growth shown by his Nuggets in the first round of the playoffs.
“I think we’ve grown up a lot since Game 1. I know we talk about it all the time, how young we are, but it’s a fact,” Malone said after Game 5. “We finally won a first quarter. We finally won the rebounding battle. So, we’ve grown up a lot and we still have a lot more.”
Here are three takeaways from Game 5:
Backcourt drivers
Jamal Murray and Gary Harris have had their inconsistencies in the first round, but both would deliver in Game 5 as the pair would be the catalyst for the Nuggets’ win.
Denver’s backcourt tandem has played together for the past three seasons and their familiarity, comfort and most importantly, confidence were on full display from tip-off. Murray and Harris got off to a hot start as they combined for 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting and they wouldn’t let up for the remainder of the game.
Harris had a strong all-around game. He was relentless in hounding Derrick White, with San Antonio’s point guard going for a quiet 5-of-11 showing. Harris also hit three timely shots from downtown as the Nuggets built a 53-42 lead. He would finish the game with 15.
“I think Gary Harris is one of the more underrated defenders in the NBA,” Malone said.
If Harris was the impetus of a strong first half by Denver, Murray played the role of closer in the second half. He was especially dominant in the third quarter when he poured in 10 points, helping the Nuggets take their biggest lead of the night at 30. In the past two playoff games, the 22-year-old Canadian has averaged 23.5 points and 6.5 assists. The latter stat is especially impressive considering he had just six assists in his first three games.
“I challenged Jamal Murray today. I said your greatest challenge as a young player is being consistent,” Malone said. “I thought Jamal was terrific tonight in answering the bell after a very disappointing effort in Game 3.”
Threes on demand
The Nuggets continued their recent surge from downtown as they shot 14-for-33 on three pointers on Tuesday. The team has come a long way from its opening two postseason games where it shot 30.8 percent. In the past two playoff games, Denver has actually led the NBA in three-point percentage, hitting at a 50 clip.
Three-point shooting was contagious for the Nuggets in Game 5 as the team had six players who hit at least one shot from downtown and five who hit at least two. This is a dramatic turnaround for a team that was 17th in the regular season in three-point percentage (35.1 percent).
As good as the Nuggets were at hitting from downtown, they were equally as impactful in defending it on the other side of the floor. The Spurs led the NBA in three-point percentage in the regular season (39.1 percent), but they could only convert 7 of their 24 attempts in Game 5. In the opening three games of the first round, San Antonio was seventh in the league in hitting threes at 37.1 percent. In the last two games, the Spurs are hitting just 29.1 percent from downtown.
Barton gets going
Will Barton proved how effective he could be in a reserve role, shining in his second game off the bench in the first round.
Barton would finish the game with 17 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists on 63.6 percent shooting. It was a return to form for the 28-year-old, who shot 29.3 percent from the field in the first four games of the first round. His creativity with the ball on drives has been a welcome boost for the reserves.
“I think he’s handled it [being a reserve] with dignity, I think he’s handled it with maturity,” Malone said. “I thought Will was great tonight…How lucky am I to have guys like Will Barton, Mason Plumlee, Monte Morris, Malik Beasley, be your bench unit?”