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The Denver Nuggets battled for the No. 1 spot in the Western Conference all year but finished up as the No. 2 overall seed heading into the postseason. With the 2019 NBA Playoffs underway, they drew the San Antonio Spurs in the opening round, and Game 1 quickly proved that this was going to be a fun series.
San Antonio stole home-court advantage in the opener with an impressive 101-96 road win behind a well-rounded effort. Now, the Nuggets look to avoid falling into a deep hole in Game 2 on their home floor.
Denver has been led by the superb play of Nikola Jokic this year, who could be an MVP candidate if not for the unreal seasons by James Harden and Giannis Antetokounmpo. The Nuggets have showcased impressive depth and the ability to roll out a number of different options but chose to play the starters heavy minutes in Game 1.
We’re going to take a look at the Nuggets roster and their starting lineup for this series along with the playoffs moving forward.
Denver Nuggets NBA Playoff Roster & Starting Lineup vs. Spurs
*Notates expected starter
C: Nikola Jokic*, Mason Plumlee
PF: Paul Millsap*, Trey Lyles, Juancho Hernangomez
SF: Will Barton*, Torrey Craig, Jarred Vanderbilt
SG: Gary Harris*, Malik Beasley
PG: Jamal Murray*, Monte Morris, Isaiah Thomas
While the Nuggets went nine deep in Game 1, it meant only Monte Morris (23 minutes), Mason Plumlee (17), Malik Beasley (15) and Torrey Craig (11) saw playing time off the bench. Every starter logged at least 32 minutes with Gary Harris (37) and Jokic (36) leading the way. Only Beasley tallied double-digit points with the second unit, as the primary scoring was spread across the starting unit.
Harris had a strong game with 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting while Murray tacked on 17 points with five steals, but struggled from the field. He knocked down 8-of-23 field goal attempts but failed to connect on a single 3-pointer. Jokic was fairly quiet in the scoring department, finishing with just 10 points but pulling down 14 rebounds and dishing out 14 assists.
Nuggets Game 2 Outlook vs. Spurs
The Spurs simply shot the ball better and played great defense in the opener. While Gregg Popovich’s squad knocked down 48.2 percent from the field and 46.7 from beyond the arc, the Nuggets made just 42 percent of their attempts. The biggest issue for Denver was outside shooting, as they knocked down just 6-of-28 attempts (21.4 percent).
The starting unit for the Nuggets made 3-of-22 from beyond the arc, which simply has to improve for them to knock off the Spurs in this series. Although Denver is still the favorite to advance, a Game 2 loss would be devastating to their overall outlook.
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