Nuggets find ‘the switch’ against the Bucks and they know how to flip it too

DENVER—Reports of the Denver Nuggets’ death were greatly exaggerated, in fact, the West’s best team has the elusive thing only elite teams do: the ability to flip the switch.

Facing the NBA’s best team, the Nuggets pounded the Bucks 129-106 via a huge second half to win their 50th game of the season and prove a point. This Denver team can go from sleeping through a stretch against lowly teams to looking like they may hoist the Larry O’Brien Trophy in a few months when playing prime competition.

See, Michael Malone’s team is seeking to become the first non-top-12 defense to win a title in decades. But that number doesn’t tell the full story. The Nuggets can ratchet up the defense when they flip the switch to turn elite on both ends. Denver had the sixth-best defense by rating for a big chunk of the season before a four-game losing streak that happened quickly after the team more or less secured their conference with a dagger win over Memphis.

So what is this magical championship switch, and how does it get flipped?

Physicality. And the Nuggets brought it against the Bucks, frustrating the recent champs into several technical fouls as Denver paraded to the charity stripe against the foul-laden Wisconsinites.

“That’s how we are supposed to play. The other team needs to match our energy,” Nikola Jokic said. “We shouldn’t be reacting to how they play; we need to bring the energy.”

Jokic scored 31 points, snagged six boards, and dished out 11 helpers in a plus-19 effort that was more akin to the rough-and-tumble postseason than game 74 as he took it to Defensive Player of the Year candidate Brook Lopez.

It was Jokic with sidekick Jamal Murray exploding for 18 points in the first quarter and finishing with 26 points, six rebounds, and nine assists that powered the Nuggets’ offense, which sped past the NBA’s top defense. It’s the third time this season Denver has beaten what was at the time the league’s best defense.

“I don’t worry about our offense, to be honest,” Malone said. “Yeah, I really don’t. When I say that, I’m not being arrogant, cocky, or none of that. It’s just a proven track record; our offense is proven to be elite. No matter who we’re playing, no matter what type of defense they use.”

Funny enough, Malone joked before the game that he “worries about everything.” But that ‘everything’ for the Nuggets is their defense because the offense always shows up. The offense is the Nuggets’ identity, but the defense is what takes the team from a nice story to a real-deal contender.

“What gives me confidence is the defense. We’ve gotten away from who we are, the reason that we have 50 wins and the reason we’re number one in the West because we had a stretch of games where we were at the top six or seven defense in the NBA,” Malone said. “Tonight was a return to who we need to be now with eight games to go. The fact that our offense was great, it doesn’t win this game without the defense.”

The blazing Bucks came out scorching 38 points in the first quarter, and the Nuggets kept pace at 37. It was 34 points from Denver in the third and another 32 in the fourth that pushed the pickaxes to the throats of the deer. All those 30-plus point efforts by the offense are nice, yet comparing them to what the defense did to the Bucks in the entire second half tips the scales.

Former back-to-back MVP and current candidate Giannis Antetokounmpo was only able to lead his whole team to 31 points in the entire second half before Mike Budenholzer pulled the plug and waived the white flag.

The Nuggets allowed only 31 points to one of the best teams in the league for about 22 minutes of game action. This is a screaming sign in the modern NBA that Denver can indeed play defense.

“Forget our offense, I thought it was our defense,” Murray said. “All game, we were just rotating on the same string. Everyone was talking, the bench was involved, and everybody who hopped into the game was ready to play.”

Jokic didn’t assert himself as the league’s MVP in an unforgettable performance against the Greek Freak. The star center didn’t have a breathtaking performance that would make voters hand him the trophy. He played his genius game, his teammates stepped up, and more importantly, the Nuggets re-cemented themselves as a very scary team.

The MVP can wait for another day if it’s even wanted. Jokic was awesome again just not the main story. Now, MVP frontrunner Joel Embiid and a formidable 76ers team come to town on Monday. The lead for that one is the league’s MVP and the duel between the great big men.

“Now we have to turn the page and get ready for another great team and the great player in Embiid,” Malone said.

What the Nuggets have in their back pocket is their x-factor, a near unbeatable mojo at Ball Arena, and a flippable switch: physicality. This is the type of thing that takes them from a league-average 15th-best defense to a top-tier unit on both ends.

“Everybody likes the physical game because of competitiveness and intensity,” Murray said. “I thought we played really tough tonight, we didn’t give any ground, and it was really consistent. Even when they did score, it didn’t phase us, we knew how to get back on track.”

The Nuggets got their playoff brand of basketball tuned up on Saturday and they lowered their magic number of locking up the top spot in the West to five.