Having made the decision to shut out Isaiah Thomas out of the rotation, Denver Nuggets head coach Mike Malone has started tinkering with the dynamic between starting point guard Jamal Murray and his backup, Monte Morris.

The two have played exceptionally well in their stints together on the floor, making a recent 133-107 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves the perfect opportunity to explore sets with the two in the same backcourt.

“It gets the ball out of Jamal’s hands,” Malone said of pairing him with Morris, according to Nick Kosmider of The Athletic. “During the season he and Monte played extremely well together. They play off of each other.”

Murray was taken out of the game early in the first quarter, only to go back in two minutes later to share the court with Morris, a combination that resulted in Morris getting the wheel at the controls while Murray looks for opportunities to snipe away.

“When I’m out there with Monte, he’s such a pure point,” Murray said. “He scores, gets in the paint, finds guys. To play with him, I know he’s looking for me and looking for other guys. He does a good job running the team.”

“He locks in and just says, ‘Find me,'” Morris said. “That’s what I try to do.”

The combo resulted in Murray scoring a team-high 30 points, his best scoring output since a 36-point night against the Sacramento Kings at the start of the calendar year. The Nuggets also dished out a season-high 40 assists, the franchise’s highest single-game total in six seasons.

“When the ball is hopping, three to four passes on both sides, we are hard to guard like that because everyone can score,” Morris added. “That’s what we wanted to do tonight. Sometimes you just have to watch good plays and watch where we are at when we’re at our best.”

Malone is making small tweaks preparing for the playoffs. First benching Thomas for good, then making the most of his surprisingly useful bench, hoping to tune it all up in these last 16 regular season games, as the Nuggets chase the top seed in the West.