Nuggets vs. Grizzlies takeaways: Jamal Murray steadying the ship for Denver

The Nuggets have lost their last two home games but they ve won six in a row on the road after a - triumph at the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday night Here are three takeaways as Denver improved to - going into a three-day break Peyton Watson -and-D That s not how Watson has been known in his first three NBA seasons But it could be his majority of feasible road to a lucrative second contract next summer The Watson corner three renaissance has resumed lately The two highest-scoring games of his career have occurred in the last week after he went for another points in Memphis going of from the field and making five -pointers The young forward entered this challenge shooting for on corner s this season He was quietly efficient from the corners last year as well despite struggling on his -point attempts above the break Early this season he wasn t spotting up in the corners as often because he was assuming more ball-handling responsibility with the second unit But lately he s been filling in for Aaron Gordon and Christian Braun in the starting lineup where his role necessitates that he occupy that area of the floor more He missed his first three outside attempts Monday all of them from the corners but kept launching every time he had a scarce inches of space The Nuggets hit shots from three as a squad in the win Bench unit s zone Jamal Murray almost inevitably starts the second quarter and plays the bulk of the non-Jokic minutes in that frame but his rotation was different in Memphis Cam Johnson staggered instead for a new-look bench unit that coach David Adelman was willing to ride for more than six minutes That was mostly because of the effective execution of a - zone defense with Jonas Valanciunas in the middle Bruce Brown and Tim Hardaway Jr up top and Johnson and Zeke Nnaji in the corners That lineup won its minutes - while holding Memphis to a -for- stretch from -point range Valanciunas supplied solid minutes despite missing a couple of tip-in opportunities He converted a tough jump shot over Jaren Jackson Jr and discovered Nnaji for a corner -pointer when the Grizzlies helped away from him to stop Valanciunas on the short roll Hardaway and Brown shared the same minutes in the first half and were a plus- After Jokic and the starters returned Denver didn t execute the zone as cleanly and Memphis shaved a -point deficit to eight by halftime The Nuggets in general have been prone to giving up ball-movement s lately when collapsing to the paint Their hosts Monday got up attempts by the end of the third quarter and total Murray clean and dominant Murray did return to his second-unit stagger rotation at the beginning of the fourth quarter and he gave Denver the push it needed He and Jock Landale shared a laugh after Murray buried a deep off-balance three over the Memphis backup center Related Articles Aaron Gordon out to weeks with hamstring injury Where can the Nuggets turn Why former Michigan star Tim Hardaway Jr is ideal Nuggets role participant If Aaron Gordon misses time with hamstring strain will Nuggets play more double-big Nikola Jokic s points lead Nuggets past Rockets in white-knuckle NBA Cup win Renck File Michael Porter Jr deal a bust for Nuggets Not yet Deal is about Cam Johnson and Aaron Gordon Then Murray s play-making skills kicked into high gear as the Grizzlies manifested him a crowd like most of defenses do when he s the focal point rather than Jokic He s just made really clean decisions Adelman mentioned over the weekend The more repetition he s had live in games the more he s seen double-teams I think he s figured it out easier Murray dished consecutive assists to extend the lead to and force a Tuomas Iisalo timeout The second of those was behind the back to Nnaji who cashed another -ball to finish up a productive night as Adelman s ninth man The Grizzlies pieced together a - run after Murray went to the bench to rest in the fourth Once he returned he knocked down two more -pointers in the last both of them pushing the lead back to nine The point guard finished another steady performance with points and eight assists with a -for- clip beyond the arc He had no turnovers until the last two minutes