Gordon dazzles in Denver debut, as Nuggets run circles around Hawks

New Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon announced his presence in Denver with authority on Sunday, scoring 13 points on an efficient 6-for-9 shooting night, punctuated by two athletic dunks off of Nikola Jokic passes in the Nuggets’ easy, 126-102 victory over the visiting Atlanta Hawks. Gordon’s high-energy defensive impact was just as immediate, and it took just one game for the Nuggets’ new starting lineup to jell.

“The main thing and the best thing that he did is that he accepted the role,” said Jokic, who led a Nuggets’ passing attack that saw the team finish with a whopping 32 assists. “He knows why he came here, he knows what he can do and he knows how he can help and he is doing that. Defense or offense, it doesn’t matter, he accepts it and is embracing it. I think he kind of saw how we played and he didn’t try to do too much. He saw that if he’s open, the ball is going to find him. Really good debut for him.”

Gordon was clearly comfortable freelancing, making backdoor cuts and moving off-ball with purpose, something that works very well with Jokic’s passing panache.

“His outlet passing is incredible,” Gordon said of his new teammate. “I haven’t seen an outlet passer that good. I’m looking forward to getting a lot of run-outs. It makes the game so easy. He makes the right reads, he’s talking to us on the floor, telling us what he wants to see from us. It makes the game easy playing with a guy like that.”

Head coach Michael Malone was more than satisfied with Gordon’s debut.

“I thought, for the first game with a new team, going through a couple of walk-through sessions, I thought he was terrific,” Malone said. “Watching him tonight, his IQ, his ability to play without the ball, his movement, his cutting, his athleticism. He’s just such a versatile weapon.”

Six Nuggets scored in double-figures, and the game was so well in hand that Jokic didn’t even get a chance to finish the triple-double he was well on his way to completing; he had 16 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists in only 28 minutes but spent the fourth quarter as a cheerleader from the bench.

It may have been only one game, but it was almost jarring to see how seamlessly Gordon fit in, immediately changing the Nuggets’ expectations. Gordon, who’s never been to the playoffs in his six-plus seasons in Orlando, already has stars in his eyes.

“I see no limits for this team,” Gordon raved following the dominant, 28-point win. “It looks like we have all the pieces that we need. We have the depth. It’s like we are covered in a lot of different spots offensively, defensively. As long as we are all working together, there’s no stopping us.”

The Nuggets won’t have to wait long to find out. The Eastern Conference-leading 76ers visit on Tuesday, and then, the Nuggets will travel west to face the conference’s third-seeded L.A. Clippers on Thursday in a nationally televised game.

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NEXT UP: Nuggets (28-18) at 76ers (32-14) | Tuesday, Mar. 30 at 7:00 p.m. TV: NBATV

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TEAM NOTES

• Nikola Jokic (7-for-12), Jamal Murray (7-for-11), Michael Porter Jr. (6-for-12) and Aaron Gordon (6-for-9) were wildly efficient on Sunday, shooting a combined 59 percent on their way to a combined 63 points, 24 rebounds, 16 assists, three steals and three blocks. They had four turnovers, all by Murray, and were a combined plus-78.

• According to ESPN Stats & Information, when the Nuggets’ fearsome foursome — Jokic, Murray, Porter Jr. and Gordon — were on the floor together for 20 minutes on Sunday, in which the Nuggets team scored 55 points and were a plus-17.

• Although things went smoothly on Sunday night, coach Michael Malone warned that there’s still work to do after spending most of the weekend getting newcomers Gordon and JaVale McGee up to speed. “Just going through introducing them to terminology, philosophy of our offense, our defense. Yesterday, walking them through some of the plays, defensive coverages, and then this morning, a little bit more of the same but a little bit more pace. It’s not going to happen overnight,” Malone explained. “We have 27 games to go. When you make a trade like this, you want the chemistry to be there right away, but often times, it’s not. The only way you get that really is going to be on the court, with guys playing and going through those growing pains.”

• When the Nuggets host the 76ers on Tuesday, they will have hometown fans in attendance for the first time in a year. As a thank-you to the community, roughly 4,500 health-care workers and first responders will be in attendance and honored at the game.

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PLAYER NOTES

• JaMychal Green had an eye-popping game on Sunday, scoring a season-high 20 points to lead the Nuggets, hitting 7-of-12 shots — including a trio of three-pointers — and pulled down seven rebounds in only 14 minutes off the bench.

• Will Barton’s play will be worth watching as the Nuggets incorporate Aaron Gordon into the starting five. Barton is now, by a wide margin, the fifth and final scoring option, and on Sunday, he notably forced many of his 13 attempts — the most on the team — appearing to be concerned about getting opportunities to score. Barton fumbled the ball multiple times and appeared to be rushing on the court for most of the night. The Nuggets will need full buy-in from Barton; if he’s taking the most shots on the team more than a handful of times in the rest of the season, there’s reason for concern.

• JaVale McGee was in uniform and ready to play on Sunday, but didn’t play on Sunday. McGee, who’s averaging 8.0 points and 5.2 rebounding in 15.2 minutes per game this season, will serve as Jokic’s backup, and as a springy rim defender and rebounder, expect him to take over the role that Mason Plumlee filled with the Nuggets over the last two seasons. Following his trade to the Nuggets on Thursday, he sounded happy to be back in the Mile High City. “I feel like this team has all the pieces. I feel like they did a great job of putting their guys together.” McGee said. “And with the addition of me and Aaron (Gordon), I just feel like we have a championship pedigree.” He would know; McGee has won three championship rings since 2017 with as a reserve for the Warriors and Lakers.

• Gary Clark, part of the trade that brought Aaron Gordon to Denver at last week’s trade deadline, is not yet with the team, and did not play on Sunday. Clark, in his fourth NBA season, is averaging 3.4 points and 3.2 rebounds per game while averaging 18.2 minutes on the court. Clark is not expected to play often with the Nuggets, but could offer some versatility off the bench.

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THE FINAL WORD

“It didn’t look like it was his first day playing with us.” — JaMychal Green, on new Nugget Aaron Gordon’s debut. Gordon fit in smoothly, scoring 13 points in 21 minutes. Green led the Nuggets in scoring Sunday with 20 points off the bench.

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INJURY WATCH:

• Greg Whittington (knee) last played on Mar. 15 and is considered week-to-week.
• Monte Morris (quadriceps) missed the Mar. 13 game and is considered day-to-day.

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ROTATION (MINUTES)

Starters:
G Jamal Murray (31)
F-G Will Barton (32)
F Michael Porter Jr. (27)
F Aaron Gordon (21)
C Nikola Jokic (28)

Bench:
G Facundo Campazzo (28)
F Paul Millsap (20)
G-F P.J. Dozier (19)
F JaMychal Green (14)
F Zeke Nnaji (6)
F Bol Bol (5)
F Vlatko Cancar (5)
G Markus Howard (4)
C JaVale McGee (DNP-CD)

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