David Adelman Explains Big Lineup Choice Behind Nuggets' Recent Wins

Both of the Denver Nuggets wins this season have come against the New Orleans Pelicans, and in both games head coach David Adelman leaned on a big lineup that put rookie power forward Trevon Brazile at small forward.

Denver is 2-2 heading into Friday's NBA Cup opener in Phoenix, and how Adelman uses that group could shape the next few weeks while the team waits on its injured players.

The idea started in the comeback win over New Orleans on Oct. 24.

At the start of the fourth quarter, Adelman went with Brazile at the three, power forward Aaron Gordon at the four and power forward Marvin Bagley III at the five, and the Denver Post reported that lineups with Gordon and Brazile together outscored the Pelicans by 20 over the final 17 minutes.

Adelman explained the thinking before Monday's game against Golden State, according to the Denver Post's Bennett Durando.

"At the half we talked and said, either if (DeMar) DeRozan's got it going, he can close; if not, we can go super-big," Adelman said.

He added that the staff felt Brazile had matchups he could handle as a three against New Orleans, while on other nights that job would be unfair for him.

That second part is the key, because Adelman did not think the Warriors were a good matchup for that look, so rookie small forward Bryce Hopkins made his second straight start on Monday, and the Brazile and Gordon pairing barely played.

Golden State won that game 134-114.

Adelman went right back to the big look when the Nuggets saw New Orleans again on Wednesday.

Brazile made his first career start, and Denver opened the game on a 27-13 run during an eight-minute stretch with Brazile, Gordon and center Nikola Jokic together up front.

The Nuggets never trailed in a 104-91 win, and Brazile finished with 11 points and eight rebounds.

I really like how Adelman is handling this situation.

He is not forcing the big lineup every night, and he is picking his spots based on the opponent, which is a smart way to get a rookie real minutes without throwing him into bad matchups.

Gordon has also backed the young players, which tells me the locker room trusts this plan, and the bigger group fits what point guard Jamal Murray has asked for in being more aggressive on the glass.

The lineup question could change soon, since power forward Cameron Johnson is questionable for Friday with a right ankle sprain, and the Post noted he was not ruled out on Wednesday until less than an hour before tipoff.

If Johnson returns, Adelman will have more options on the wing, and the rotation could shift again.

Until then, I expect Adelman to keep reading each matchup the same way he did against New Orleans and Golden State.

Brazile has earned the right to be part of that conversation, and if the big group keeps winning its minutes, it should stay part of the plan even after Johnson is back.