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The Denver Nuggets are halfway through mini-camp in preparation for the Las Vegas Summer League. The team will hold one more session tonight, two on Wednesday, and the final day on Thursday.

The good news is that the chemistry between the players – most of whom have never played with each other in an organized setting – is building quickly. The primary focus has been trying to get everyone on the same page defensively but also allowing more freedom on the offensive end. The 15-man roster has been split into three mini-teams to try to allow for players’ games to mesh together.

As Assistant Coach Micah Nori has said before, it’s certainly a work in progress.

Nori gave a quick example of the little things that they’re working on.

“One time [today], Juancho [Hernangomez] didn’t roll and instead he popped and a turnover got forced so we stopped and talked about it. As they play more together, they’ll get a feel for each other. But you can already see it coming together.

“[The chemistry] is absolutely getting better.”

Entering his second season, Emmanuel Mudiay knows that this extremely young team will be looking to him for him for guidance.

“Some of the guys have been asking [for advice] and that’s a good thing,” Mudiay told Nuggets.com. “I got to work on that, as far as my leadership, because they’re looking to me to put them in the right positions [on the court].”

The Las Vegas Summer League begins on July 8 and will be televised on ESPN and NBA TV.

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Summer League Mini-Camp: Day 3

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Summer League: Denver vs. Washington

The Denver Nuggets had been one of the surprises of the NBA Summer League, posting a 3-0 record and headed into the tournament format with high hopes and visions of holding the Summer League championship trophy come Monday night.

But the Nuggets, who were the No. 3 seed, were tripped up by Atlanta Thursday and found themselves playing in the consolation bracket Friday. But after a strong start, the Nuggets faded as the Washington Wizards caught them in the fourth quarter and ultimately went on to post a 97-89 win at Cox Pavilion.

It was a tough way to end for Denver, which came into the Summer League playoffs undefeated only to fall on consecutive nights and wind up their week in Las Vegas 3-2. Washington finished at .500 (3-3) with Friday's win.

As is usually the case in these Summer League consolation games, teams tend to rest their high-profile rookies and second- and third-year players. Denver sat Emmanuel Mudiay while Washington didn't play Jarrid Famous, who had been averaging 10.2 points and 6.8 rebounds.

Wizards rookie Kelly Oubre Jr. had a fast start, scoring 12 points in the first 11 minutes and would finish with 30. Washington was down 28-20 but whittled it down to five at the end of the first quarter as Traevon Jackson hit a long 3-pointer to beat the buzzer and cut Denver's lead to 28-23. Jackson would finish with 15 points.

The Nuggets stayed in front, thanks in part to a second-quarter four-point play from Jamaal Franklin who was fouled after nailing a 3-pointer and made the subsequent field goal to give Denver a 35-28 lead with 7:02 left in the quarter.

Denver also got a solid offensive contribution off the bench from Oleksiy Pecherov as the 7-foot center from Ukraine had 12 first-half points and would finish with a team-high 21 points. By halftime, the Nuggets' lead had grown to 51-38.

Oubre helped bring the Wizards back and they cut the deficit to 62-59 with just over two minutes to go in the third quarter. The Nuggets had trouble all game matching up with the former Kansas forward and Oubre took advantage of the situation, hitting over Denver's smaller defenders.

But Oubre wasn't getting a lot of help and the Nuggets were still in front, 69-63 heading into the fourth quarter.

The Wizards tied it at 69-69 with just under eight minutes left and took the lead, 72-71, on Oubre's 3-pointer with 7:13 to go. Another Oubre trey upped the lead to 79-75 with just over four minutes left.
Washington grew the lead to 86-78 with three minutes left and was able to remain in front the rest of the way thanks to Oubre's big night.

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Summer League: Nuggets vs. Wizards

With an 82-73 victory, the 14th-seeded Atlanta Hawks became the second squad Thursday to knock off a previously unbeaten team in the championship bracket of the Samsung NBA Summer League 2015.

Atlanta (3-2) staked itself to an early 5-0 lead behind a 3-point play by Lamar Patterson and a jumper by Mike Muscala. From there, the Hawks never trailed against the No. 3 Denver Nuggets (3-1) at UNLV's Thomas &amp; Mack Center.

The Hawks pushed their lead to seven on three occasions in the opening quarter only to see the Nuggets chip away and cut the deficit to only one score with 24 seconds left on the clock.

Denver pulled within one twice more in the second and drew even at 32-all with 55 seconds remaining in the first half. Unfortunately, a 3-pointer by Terran Petteway and a jumper by Patterson extended the Hawks' advantage to five points at intermission.

Atlanta's lead ballooned to double digits for the majority of the third quarter, but dipped back to only three points twice midway in the fourth.

With the two separated by only one possession at 71-68, the Hawks reeled off a 9-0 run over a span of 3:31 to put 12 points between themselves and the Nuggets. Brandon Ashley, who played at Arizona from 2012-15, was the primary catalyst for the scoring outburst with seven of his game-high 18 points during this stretch.

Patterson and Stephen Holt contributed 17 apiece in the win, while Petteway and Muscala added 14 and 10, respectively.

Denver's Joffrey Lauvergne had the games only double-double behind a combination of 12 points and 11 rebounds. Gilvydas Biruta led the team in scoring with 17 points. Ian Clark chipped in 13, while Roscoe Smith had 10 more.

The Nuggets will return to action Friday in the consolation bracket, while the Hawks advance to Saturday's quarterfinals.

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Summer League Playoffs: Nuggets vs. Hawks

In addition to having the ability to create his own shot, Denver point guard Emmanuel Mudiay already has proven his court vision is good as anyone's at the NBA Summer League.

The seventh overall pick continued to show his passing ability Monday, dishing out a game-high eight assists in the

Nuggets' 86-83 win over the Miami Heat at the Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas.

Mudiay found teammate Ian Clark, a Belmont product, on the wing on an inbounds play for the go-ahead 3-pointer with 1.9 seconds to give Denver an 84-83 lead. The Nuggets, who trailed most of the game and by as many as 13 points, then got two free throws from Erick Green before Miami guard Shabazz Napier missed an off-balance 3-pointer as time expired.

Mudiay, who also had 10 points and three rebounds, bumped up his assist average to 7.3 per game, which ranks second in the NBA Summer League behind Portland's Tim Frazier (8.0 assists).

His shooting didn't come as easily Monday, as the 6-foot-5-inch standout finished 4-for-13 from the floor and 1-for-5 from the 3-point line. He also had five turnovers while playing a game-high 33 minutes.

Clark led five Nuggets in double figures with 19 points, and Gary Harris added 12 points before leaving early in the fourth quarter with an apparent injury.

Green and forward Joffrey Lauvergne each had 11 points for the Nuggets. Lauvergne, who played in 24 games for Denver a year ago, also pulled down nine boards for the Nuggets, who shot 29 of 64 (45.3 percent) from the field and 19-for-27 (70.4 percent) from the free-throw line.

Napier, the 24th pick in the 2014 draft, led the Heat with 20 points on 7 of 14 shooting. He added six assists, three steals and one turnover in 24 minutes in front of team president Pat Riley and coach Erik Spoelstra, who sat together in the stands.

Justise Winslow, the 10th overall pick, only played 12 minutes and finished with three points. He was nursing a leg injury by using a heating pad most of the game.

Greg Whittington had 16 points, and teammate Tyler Kalinoski scored 11 for the Heat, who went 32 of 67 (47.8 percent) from the floor.

Miami returns to action Tuesday against the Boston Celtics at 7 p.m. ET, while Denver awaits their seeding for the single-elimination play.

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Summer League: Nuggets vs. Heat

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Summer League: Denver vs. Miami

If the Denver Nuggets' first two games of the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas are a sign of things to come this season, it's going to be a very productive year for rookie point guard Emmanuel Mudiay.

Mudiay, the seventh overall pick in this year's draft, followed an 11-point NBA debut on Friday with game-highs of 19 points and 10 assists on Sunday, adding three rebounds in a 98-76 win over the Sacramento Kings.

The 19-year-old, who played professionally in China last season, has been anything but trigger-shy in his first two NBA games. Mudiay has attempted a total of 30 shots from the field, converting 12 of them. After hitting just one free throw on Friday, Mudiay went 4-for-7 from the foul line on Sunday.

Sacramento center Willie Cauley-Stein, who was picked sixth overall in this year's draft, had 15 points on 7-for-13 shooting from the floor. The 21-year-old 7-footer played 22 minutes, but recorded just one rebound.

Third-year guard Ian Clark added 19 points for Denver on 7-for-10 shooting from the floor and a perfect 5-for-5 from 3-point range. Erick Green, who appeared in 43 games for the Nuggets last year, had 16 points. Seven Nuggets players finished with double-figure scoring totals on Saturday.

After close first half, Denver pulled away early in the third quarter. Leading 51-44 at the break, Denver got 11 points, including three triples from Clark in the third, and another from starting guard Gary Harris to build a 17-point lead by the end of the quarter.

Denver (2-0) faces Miami on Monday at 8 p.m. ET. Sacramento (0-2) plays Golden State on Monday at 6:30 p.m. ET.

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Summer League: Nuggets vs. Kings

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Summer League: Denver vs. Sacramento

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