Jazz’s multiple ball handlers causing problems for Nuggets, and Mike Conley’s return could hurt Denver even more

SALT LAKE CITY — So long as his COVID-19 results come back negative, Utah Jazz guard Mike Conley will be released from his four-day quarantine in the NBA bubble on Friday, and there is a very high chance that those results will come back in time for him to rejoin his team before Game 3 of their playoff series against the Denver Nuggets, which tips off at 2 p.m. MT.

The Nuggets, now tied with Jazz 1-1 in the series, are already contending with the fact that Utah’s multiple ball handlers and shooters are causing problems for their defense. Add Conley to the mix and things become a little more difficult.

The Nuggets are playing without Gary Harris and Will Barton, two of their starters who just so happen to be experienced perimeter defenders. Both players have been dealing with nagging injuries, but Denver has remained hopeful that they would be able to return to action at some point during the playoffs.

That hope was somewhat dashed on Wednesday when the Denver Post’s Mike Singer reported that Barton would be leaving the bubble to rehab and get a second opinion about his right knee issues.

Despite the lack of impactful defenders, the Nuggets were hoping to find some relief by putting more pressure on Donovan Mitchell Wednesday, but the plan backfired when, realizing his scoring opportunities were limited, Mitchell made Denver pay with handoffs, cross-court passes and quick movement.

“It makes it hard,” Nuggets head coach Mike Malone said of Mitchell’s playmaking skills. “Any time you put two guys on the ball, you’re going to give something up. He’s a hell of a player. We did a much better job on him than we did in Game 1.”

But, playing better defense on Mitchell opened up the game for the Jazz’s other ball handlers and shooters, including Jordan Clarkson, Emmanuel Mudiay and Joe Ingles, all of whom received high praise from the Nuggets coach after the Nuggets Game 2 loss, but none more so than Ingles.

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“Joe always seems to make the right read out there, the right play,” Malone said.

Unfortunately for the Nuggets, another player who is known the NBA over for making smart plays, reading the defense, being patient, facilitating and knocking down shots is Conley.

“Mike’s a great player,” Jamal Murray said on Wednesday. “Very underrated.”

In the weeks leading up to the NBA’s suspension of the season and then even more so in the bubble, Conley was becoming increasingly comfortable with the Jazz and playing his best basketball of the season.

No matter what Denver’s defensive plan is for when Utah is able to add Conley to the mix again, the Jazz are feeling pretty good about the fact that one of their greatest strengths is turning out to be a big problem for the Nuggets, and Conley’s skill set is going to give them even more of an edge moving forward.

“Having a player like Mike Conley, a leader like Mike Conley back with us, it only adds positives,” Utah center Rudy Gobert said after Game 2. “He’s got a new baby at home, so he’s in a great state of mind, so it’s only going to be positive for us.”