SALT LAKE CITY — Michael Malone bent his knees as if trying to demonstrate an engaged defensive stance on the sideline. He clapped emphatically — stepping onto the court as he did so, making sure he had Jamal Murray’s attention as the point guard sauntered back to the defensive end, disappointed in himself for not cashing in on his own heads-up play.
Because he had missed the shot, the steal that preceded it faded from memory almost immediately. It was a forgettable moment in a forgettable game between the Nuggets and Jazz. But it was also a sign of life from a struggling defender on a struggling defensive team. That was worthy of encouragement.
After a Christian Braun dunk, Murray had guarded the inbounder and caught Utah asleep by deflecting the inbound pass up in the air, for himself to collect. It was his fourth steal of the night. He tried to step behind the line for a quick 3-pointer to really punish the Jazz, but the shot ricocheted out of bounds.
“We’re just trying to pick up a little bit more. Not let teams just walk it up every night. Especially after dead balls, after free throws,” Malone said after Denver’s 122-103 win. “Try to pressure them a little bit. And Jamal extends to 94 feet and obviously got a steal, and it would have been great if he was able to knock that down. But if you’re struggling on one end, you can find other things to do.”
The Nuggets (10-7) are still seeking a defensive identity in 2024-25, a process made exponentially more difficult by the ongoing absence of Swiss army knife Aaron Gordon. They’ve taken a step back in relation to the rest of the league, ranking 17th through 17 games. They’re allowing 1.4 points per 100 possessions more than last season when they fielded a top-10 defense.
It’s difficult to know what’s an anomaly and what’s a reality for Denver. Even against Utah, the Nuggets started slow, conceding 35 points in the first quarter while falling behind by 12. They struggled on the glass in an otherwise well-rounded win. They allowed the Jazz to get hot from the 3-point line early, endangering what was supposed to be an easy bounce-back win before the Thanksgiving holiday.
Then Denver steadied itself, sniffing out the uncertainty of a banged-up Utah roster. The Jazz committed a lot of self-inflicted errors, but the Nuggets at least applied the commensurate pressure. That’s not much more than a matter of effort, exactly what Malone thought they didn’t have enough of Monday against the Knicks.
“Watch any game that I’ve played, and I’ve pressed my whole life. So I think that starts there,” Murray said when asked what he needs to do to be impactful defensively. “Talking. Being more physical from the start of the possession. Not (letting) them get to their spots easy or set their screens where they want to set it. Stuff like that. So I think as a group, not just one or two guys, but getting everybody to do that (is important). And we were doing a good job of talking — I’m talking about this game. We’ve been doing a terrible job. But we did a better job today, of switching and talking, and even if there is a mistake or a blow-by, having help behind it.”
Murray has been hunted by opponents a fair amount. The Mavericks attacked him in clutch time last Friday, at the end of a game the Nuggets lost. That has been a problem in the past for Michael Porter Jr., too.
The 27-year-old Murray isn’t out there to be Denver’s leading backcourt defender — that’s Braun, with help from Peyton Watson — but he understands there are always some fundamental ways he can be useful. In the past, he has been an impressive post defender for a guard. He can rebound when he’s making a concerted effort.
“It’s November. We’re getting there,” Murray said on the state of the team’s defense. “Obviously, it’s not perfect. But as long as the effort is there, and the energy is there, mistakes are gonna happen. If you can make a mistake and then still put in effort, cover for a teammate, rotate, scramble, talk.”
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The Nuggets are allowing the second-most assists per game in the NBA. They’re also allowing the fourth-most paint points (53.3), even after a considerably better performance Wednesday. A number of players have struggled to keep up against off-ball actions, getting burned by schematic tricks that generate quality looks. Opponents are 46.8% from the floor against Denver. Only five teams have a worse defensive field goal percentage.
So while Malone acknowledged that a road win allowed the Nuggets to go into Thanksgiving feeling better about themselves, he also emphasized the lack of proof that they can sustain good defense.
“We’ll have quarters. We’ll have halves. Sometimes we’ll have a full game,” he said. “I think our defense so far has just been really inconsistent. And obviously, where does that start? It starts in transition. It flows into the paint, and it finishes with the rebounding. And then aside from those areas, I think it also has to go to just being more physical, more urgent and more disciplined. And there are simple mistakes that we’re making that are breakdowns in our gameplan or personnel. And we have to stop making those if we want to be a team that is gonna be a top-10 defense. We’re far from that right now.”