Malone: Nuggets ‘pretty scary’ when both ends of the floor working

After its losing five straight to kick off 2017, the longest streak of the season thus far, the Denver Nuggets have won five of its last seven games after a 103-93 victory over divisional foe Utah on Tuesday.

The recent success has come on the heels of an offensive outburst by the Nuggets, with the team scoring 120 or more points in four of those five wins, including a 140-point showing across the pond in London against the Indiana Pacers.

Head coach Michael Malone, joining “Schlereth and Evans” on Wednesday, said the offense of late has been “off the charts.”

But Malone, in his second year in Denver, said he’s most impressed with the Nuggets defensive output the last few games, specifically in home wins against the Jazz this week and the Los Angeles Clippers over the weekend.

“The great thing for me is in two of our last three games, home wins against the Clippers and last night against the Jazz, our defense showed up,” Malone said. “Obviously, that’s been the biggest issues within probably the last month as great as our offense has been our defense has really taken a big dip in the wrong direction.”

The Nuggets rest among the bottom of the league in defensive statistics, ranking 29th in defensive efficiency (109.8) and opponent field goal percentage (.480), with only the Los Angeles Lakers worse, and 28th in opponent points per game (110.9).

But, should Denver continue to put out efforts on the defensive side of the ball like Tuesday, holding the Jazz to 41 percent from the field and 93 points, Malone said his team could be dangerous.

“I really feel that we defend at a high level, and our offense has just been off the charts,” Malone said. “Now we’re a pretty scary team when we have both ends of the floor working for us”.

As of Wednesday, Denver sits in eighth place in the Western Conference — a game ahead of the Portland Trail Blazers for the final playoff spot — but six games under .500 and 7.5 games back of the No. 7 seed Memphis Grizzlies.

Follow digital content producer Johnny Hart on Twitter: @JohnnyHart7.