SALT LAKE CITY — When Denver Nuggets coach Mike Malone looks at the box score from Monday’s Game 1 win over the Utah Jazz, there’s a lot to be happy about. But Donovan Mitchell’s 57 points is a glaring eyesore.
Despite the Nuggets, and particularly Torrey Craig, having defended Mitchell well in the past, he was able to shake loose and aggressively create contact, eventually forcing Craig to foul out of the game late in the fourth quarter.
“He’s a strong right-hand driver and we let him get to his right hand quite a bit and that’s just guarding one-on-one. He got to the foul line 13 times. So we have to give him different looks, obviously make some adjustments.” — Denver Nuggets coach Mike Malone on defending Donovan Mitchell
“He’s a strong right-hand driver and we let him get to his right hand quite a bit and that’s just guarding one-on-one. He got to the foul line 13 times,” Malone said Tuesday. “So we have to give him different looks, obviously make some adjustments.”
Whether those adjustments involve moving Craig onto someone else remains to be seen. Craig could certainly make individual adjustments with an emphasis on forcing Mitchell to his left and playing smarter in contact, but Craig said that playing without fouling is difficult not just because of Mitchell’s driving ability, but because of Rudy Gobert’s screening ability.
“It was frustrating, me being in foul trouble,” Craig said. “So I’ve just got to do a better job of controlling my fouls within a game.”
If Malone were to make a change in the lineup with defensive assignments, reserve man Monte Morris has been one of the few Nuggets players who is an asset on the defensive end. Morris struggled offensively in last season’s playoffs, unable to hit a single outside shot through the Nuggets series against the San Antonio Spurs and Portland Trail Blazers.
On Monday, Morris finally was able to break his 3-point playoff drought, going 6 of 9 from the field, including hitting 2 of 3 from downtown, all very timely buckets for Denver.
“I’ve said this time and time again when I’m asked about Monte,” Malone said. “When Monte plays aggressively, plays with confidence, plays with that attack mindset, he is a difference-maker and I thought he was that last night.”
While Craig and Morris are both solid options on the defensive end, redshirt rookie Michael Porter Jr. has been a target.
In the weeks leading to the NBA’s season suspension, Porter had been earning more minutes and showing flashes of what made him the 14th overall draft pick in 2018. He continued his breakout success on the offensive end through the seeding games in the NBA bubble, but was less effective in Game 1 against the Jazz.
“We’ve already seen what Michael brings to the table,” Malone said, speaking to his offensive skill set. “Obviously his steepest learning curve is going to be on the defensive end of the floor. The reality is that teams are going to look to put him in a lot of actions and go at him, so he has to take that personally and show teams that he can sit down and guard.”
Malone noted before Game 1 that with Mike Conley missing from the Jazz lineup, he expected for Mitchell to be more aggressive and to have the ball in his hands more. That, of course, came to fruition on Monday, and Malone expects more of the same on Wednesday when the teams meet for Game 2 of the best-of-seven series.
Perhaps one of the tallest tasks for the Nuggets will be finding ways to focus on Mitchell and slow him down while Conley is out of the lineup and then turning around and making adjustments when Conley returns.