The Denver Nuggets found no answers for the second half barrage the Phoenix Suns put together in Game 1. Phoenix's defense turned it up a notch as they also found their rhythm offensively to take the 122-105 win in front of a raucous home crowd. Denver will need to make some adjustments as they look to even up the series before heading back to their home floor. Being undermanned as they already are, especially with one of their top stars in Jamal Murray out with a torn ACL, they will also need somebody to step up if Denver wants to win Game 2.
Newly-crowned NBA MVP Nikola Jokic will continue to play like his MVP self and Michael Porter Jr. settled into his role as the no. 2 scoring option. Aaron Gordon will give them a little bit of everything with some scoring, rebounding, and defense, while Austin Rivers should continue to try to slow down Phoenix's All-Star backcourt. With that said, the player that needs to step up for the Nuggets will be back-up point guard Monte Morris.
Morris has been an unsung backcourt reserve for the Nuggets over the past three seasons and has steadily put up solid numbers off the bench for coach Michael Malone's squad. Since Murray went down, the 6-foot-2 guard has been thrusted into a more featured role in Denver's offense and he thrived in that role in Denver's 6-game series win over the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round.
Despite continuing to come off the bench, Morris still averaged 29.4 minutes and put up 15.3 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 5.8 assists, while shooting 41.7 percent from three. In their final two wins that clinched the series, the former Iowa State standout scored a combined 50 points and knocked down seven 3-pointers to help Denver put Damian Lillard and the Blazers away.
However, Denver barely felt the 25-year old's presence in their 17-point Game 1 defeat. In 23 minutes, Morris dished out six assists but scored just two points on a forgetful 1-of-10 shooting night from the field and missed all of his four attempts from downtown. The Nuggets will certainly need a lot more from Morris if they want to make it out of the second round. Denver would ideally want him to at least mirror the production he had against the Blazers.
Nuggets coach Michael Malone recently lauded the tremendous chemistry Morris has established with superstar center Nikola Jokic. They were a deadly pick-and-roll tandem in the previous series against Portland and the Nuggets should continue to dish out steady servings of this versus Phoenix.
Malone noted how Morris almost never makes mistakes. His ability to make the right reads while playing the two-man game with Jokic has amounted to Denver's success so far in these playoffs despite missing its top star point guard.
Can Morris continue to be that spark and steady hand at point guard for the Nuggets? They will definitely need him to be so if they want to make their second consecutive Western Conference Finals appearance. He won't have much room for error either, as they would need him to step up as soon as Game 2.
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