The Nuggets didn’t let an apron keep Christian Braun from cooking. But when you ask Dennis Scott about Denver and the playoffs, the kitchen gets uncomfortably … quiet.
When you ask about the ceiling for the Nuggets’ schizophrenic season, Scott admits he can’t stop thinking about the shoes Braun left behind when the former Kansas star shifted to the starting lineup.
“That is the question,” the NBA TV analyst told me before the Nuggets hosted the suspension-addled Timberwolves on Tuesday night at Ball Arena. “How does this bench respond?
“We know (Nikola Jokic) and Jamal (Murray) are going to do what they do. Obviously, (Aaron) Gordon has to be close to 100%. With that (said), it’s all about the bench.
“Think about it. What if the bench stepped up like (Jordan) Poole stepped up with Golden State when they beat the Celtics (in the ’22 Finals)?”
Do the Nuggets have the depth to swim with a Poole of their own?
The Warriors’ 6-foot-4 combo guard came off the bench three Finals ago in the Bay’s last great championship run, torching Boston to the tune of 13.2 points, 1.8 boards and 1.8 assists over six games.
He was 22 then. Peyton Watson and Julian Strawther are 22 now. Coincidence? Probably.
But did you know that Strawther went into Tuesday evening averaging more points per game (9.4) and more treys per game (1.5) than Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (8.6 and 1.4, respectively) was with Orlando?
Or that Watson as of Monday night, was shooting 3-pointers at a better clip (37.1%), averaging more points (8.3), more steals (0.8) and more blocks (1.3) than Bruce Brown?
Barring injury, Russell Westbrook is shaping up to play the role of Brucey B in the postseason, for better or for worse. Odds are he’s the swing starter, the kind who may not start every win-or-go-home game but is trusted by coach Michael Malone to finish them.
He’s not the kind of shooter Poole was (and is), though. Beastbrook started the week connecting on 32.7% of his treys and 55.9% of his free throws versus Western Conference opponents this season. It stands to reason that will be very high up on more than a few playoff scouting reports in a few weeks.
Watson, meanwhile, started the week as a 35.5% shooter from deep and 63.0% shooter at the stripe versus the West. Strawther went into Tuesday as a 34.8% 3-point marksman against the West and a 29.5% one against divisional foes, which nudges us against the other elephant in the room: Namely, that while general manager Calvin Booth’s kids have been all right, they’ve done quite a bit of fattening up on the dregs of the Association, too.
The Nuggets went into Tuesday night having their bench outscore the opponents’ reserves in just 19 games. Denver won 13 of those (.684 winning percentage).
Other than Jokic’s indefatigable brilliance, this roster is the proverbial box of chocolates — you never know what you’re going to get. And the young’uns on the bench have called more maybes than Carly Rae Jepsen. Maybe they play defense. Maybe they listen to Malone. Maybe they make it rain.
“I think one reason is, if they had to do it over again, I think they would have spent some of that money to keep a veteran guy or two and went into the luxury tax,” Scott continued.
“Sometimes, you’ve got to step (up) and take a penalty … in order to stay relevant.”
Or to stay sane. The Nuggets posted a nine-game win streak from Jan. 31 through Feb. 20. In the 19 tilts after that, though, the ones right before Tuesday’s tussle with a Minnesota team minus Donte DiVincenzo and Ball Arena bad-boy Naz Reid, they’d gone 10-9.
They’d followed a loss with a win or a win with a loss 12 different times.
Scott’s got a theory for that one, too. Which harkens back to depth, back to the same question as before.
“Can the bench step up,” the former Magic guard pondered, “like Golden State and Poole and the Warriors did with their bench three years ago?”
He’s about to find out. Because if we’ve learned anything from the last five springs, it’s that it takes more than one cook in May for everybody to eat.
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