Peyton Watson returned to the Denver Nuggets lineup on Sunday and he added some much missed bench pop to the scuffling team. The breakout forward’s contributions helped the team to their seventh wire-to-wire win of the year, beating the Portland Trail Blazers 128-112, thanks to a diverse scoring attack.
It was the Nuggets’ first game having their starting five and their key bench players available like Watson since Nov. 12. Watson was the most recent to get injured and the latest to come back after helping to carry the team through their most banged-up stretch in January. Watson had three 30-point nights that month, as part of his career year where he’s averaging 14.9 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2 assists and 30.7 minutes per game while shooting 50% from the field and 42% from three-point range — all career bests.
Watson’s emergence as a dependable scoring option to go along with his solid defense was especially critical when injuries ravaged the Nuggets’ rotation before being derailed by a hamstring injury. He stepped up to star alongside Jamal Murray during a January stretch without Nikola Jokic, Cameron Johnson, and mostly without Christian Braun and Aaron Gordon.
The 14 points Watson poured in marked his season-high off the bench. He hasn’t scored that many coming off the pine in over a calendar year. Since Watson went down with the injury, only Tim Hardaway Jr. (12 times) and Bruce Brown (once) have reached 14 points off the bench for Denver. It’s the kind of secondary scoring punch the Nuggets have desperately missed.
Watson’s impact goes beyond just his scoring. He helps the defense, a lot. And the Nuggets are going to need all of that in these final 10 games and into the playoffs.
“Feels good,” Watson said postgame on the floor about his return. “This altitude got to me tonight. I was tired as hell, but we pulled through. We got the W.”
Jokic had some early struggles controlling the ball as has been the story lately, but chugged through for a quick triple-double a few minutes into the third quarter. He led the Nuggets with all of the following: 22 points, 14 rebounds, 14 assists and two steals while being plus-19.
It was Jokic’s 85th triple-double before the start of the fourth quarter — his 17th time accomplishing that feat this season. He now has 28 triple-doubles this year, while the next two NBA players have a combined total of 25. He nearly had the triple-double by halftime despite the careless turnovers.
Murray also tallied 22 points, while Johnson kicked in 19 and tied that plus-19 mark. Overall it was a pretty clinical win with seven Nuggets — Gordon, Braun and Brown — notching double figures.
“The first half, I thought we were going through the motions,” David Adelman said. “We were guarding their plays like it was a walkthrough, not a game. So it wasn’t good enough, but I did like the response.”
Jonas Valanciunas was out of the rotation entirely for a second game as Adelman keeps looking for answers, but it didn’t matter much against a Blazers team that’s been reeling. Denver now has 17 straight wins against Portland in Denver, and it’s the fourth-straight win at home for a Nuggets squad that has struggled in their own barn.
“That’s going to be the challenge for this team, is being unselfish, if it’s not your night, staying locked in, being ready,” Adelman said. “But right now, that lineup, that second units, it’s been very effective.”
The team ate in transition with 27 points on the break, brought strong energy in the second half — including good bench minutes — and pretty much cruised. The Nuggets were noticeably more energetic after halftime, with the second unit finally providing some lift.
The Nuggets now sit just a half-game behind the Rockets for fourth place in the Western Conference standings. More importantly, the Nuggets are 7-2 with their opening night rotation healthy, and five of those seven wins have come by double digits.
“We know that we got a great team, and it’s been a while since we had our full team,” Watson said to the crowd. “So I think when we’re healthy, nobody in the league can beat us.”
That’s the kind of confidence you want to hear with 10 games remaining.
What’s next for the Nuggets?
For the fourth time in four weeks the Nuggets tip off two games within 24 hours, traveling to Phoenix on Tuesday then hosting the Mavericks in Denver on Wednesday. It’s the Nuggets final back-to-back of the campaign and they’ll have just two road games left after Tuesday in the desert.