The Nuggets coach shed some light on players’ roles shifting with each passing game
David Adelman made it clear that each game his Denver Nuggets play calls for different players to take on different roles.
Recently against the Memphis Grizzlies, it was Peyton Watson, who shifted into the role of starter in the absence of Aaron Gordon and scored 27 points.
For much of the season it has been three-time MVP Nikola Jokić, who is averaging a triple-double with 29.6 points, 12.8 rebounds and 11.1 assists per game.
“I think the most important thing for all our guys is knowing what the night is,” Adelman said during a postgame press conference on Nov. 24. “Tonight [Watson] shot the ball really well, let it fly. Other nights, he needs to be a cutter like he was at the end and [Jokić] found him on that outrageous pass where he played in the dunker. So guys have to kind of change nightly who they are depending on how the night’s going.”
Suffice it to say, Adelman’s analysis was spot on, as different players have stepped up at different times when Denver has needed it most, and in turn “changed nightly who they are depending on how the night’s going.”
This has especially rung true for the Nuggets as they’ve dealt with injuries over the past couple weeks.
First it was Christian Braun who went down and is now sidelined with a left ankle sprain. Then, more recently it was Aaron Gordon, who will be out for 4 to 6 weeks with a right hamstring strain.
Gordon has had a tough go of it from a health perspective as of late. He currently has a right hamstring strain, and interestingly enough, it was his left hamstring that gnawed at him during the Nuggets’ playoff run back in May.
Prior to his injury, the 12-year NBA veteran had been averaging a career high in scoring this season with 18.8 points per game. He, alongside Jamal Murray (23.2 points per game), were serving as the perfect counter tandem to Jokić in the starting lineup.
Now Denver will likely be without him until late next month or even early January.
What the Nuggets do have going for them is their 13-4 record and current third place standing in the Western Conference. And with two of their usual starters out, it’s a plus that they’ve put together such a strong start to the new season to this point, especially if they were to drop a few games with Braun and Gordon still working their way back from injury.