Denver Gazette beat writer Vinny Benedetto takes you around the NBA and inside the Nuggets locker room:<\/p>\n
NBA Insider<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a little more on Peyton Watson\u2019s plate this Thanksgiving.<\/p>\n
The 23-year-old has joined Denver\u2019s starting lineup after Christian Braun sprained his ankle against the Clippers on Nov. 12. With Aaron Gordon also out of the starting lineup, Watson has been tasked with taking on some of the game\u2019s best scorers.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeyton\u2019s special gift is the way he guards, and he\u2019s got to guard. He\u2019s going to have really tough responsibilities and matchups every night \u2014 guys that are paid a lot of money, because they\u2019re really good. That\u2019s going to be his job,\u201d Nuggets coach David Adelman said after Wednesday\u2019s practice at Ball Arena. \u201cIf he can score, pass and make plays offensively, it\u2019s kind of just the cherry on top. I just expect him to bring great energy defensively and rebound the ball.\u201d<\/p>\n
There have been a lot of cherries on the plate, too. Watson is averaging 16.7 points in his last six starts, including a career-high 32-point, 12-rebound performance against the Pelicans and a 27-point game against the Grizzlies when he took a career-high 12 3-pointers. Over the last six games, Watson is 14 for 28 from 3-point range with teams often daring him to shoot.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love it. I wish they would keep doing it. Wide-open shots, I\u2019ll take them,\u201d Watson said. \u201cMy teammates, they pass me the ball \u2026 all my looks were catch-and-shoot. So, that means that everybody was finding me for those looks, and they want me to take those shots. I\u2019m just taking them with confidence. I feel like they\u2019re going in at a great rate.\u201d<\/p>\n
The increased role is hardly the only change Watson has been working through over the past couple of weeks. He also changed his representation from Excel Sports Management to Klutch Sports Group ahead of his restricted free agency next summer. Watson first worked with Rich Paul when the Klutch founder and CEO handled his name, image and likeness business during his lone season at UCLA.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a big opportunity at hand just this year for me in general on the court, and that\u2019s something that I\u2019ve been taking the most seriously, because at the end of the day that\u2019s just going to make my agent\u2019s job, whoever my agent is, easier if I\u2019m doing my job out there on the court,\u201d Watson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cExcel did nothing but great things for me \u2013 super supportive. It was just more so a business decision on our side. It\u2019s something that we\u2019re happy with because of the support that Klutch shows. Just the love, the attention to detail is really next level. We\u2019re excited to be able to start that path of our journey, but nothing but love to my previous agent.\u201d<\/p>\n
Watson said he\u2019s blessed to follow the lead of Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray when it comes to navigating success in the NBA. Murray credited Watson with being a \u201cwilling learner\u201d following the team\u2019s practice Thursday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI got no better people to learn from than Jok and Jamal. They go out there consistently and produce and put up numbers every night. They look at it as another day in the office,\u201d Watson said. \u201cObviously, for me, it\u2019s exciting times for me and my family just because this is a new experience for us, but I\u2019m trying to approach it kind of the same as they are, because at any time things could go the other way. I\u2019m just trying to take it with humility.\u201d<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a lot to be thankful for these days. His parents and younger sister will be in Denver to celebrate the holiday, and Watson is going to have a plate full of yams and macaroni and cheese before he looks to continue his breakout against the Spurs on Friday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just always think about where I came from. It was a grind to get in the lineup. It was a grind to make my name in this NBA, but it\u2019s just been a journey, and I\u2019m happy and grateful for it all.\u201d<\/p>\n
What I\u2019m Thinking<\/p>\n
Denver\u2019s ability to stay afloat near the top of the Western Conference standings over the next month is going to come down to defense.<\/p>\n
The Nuggets are expecting to be without their two most impactful defenders \u2013 Christian Braun and Aaron Gordon \u2013 through the holidays. That\u2019s led to more opportunities for not just Peyton Watson but Spencer Jones and Zeke Nnaji as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cSurvive, man,\u201d the Nuggets\u2019 coach David Adelman said of the defensive keys for his team over the next month. \u201cDefensive rebound. We have a lot of small lineups out there. I was super proud of Zeke \u2013 six defensive rebounds \u2013 but not easy ones, tough ones in traffic. \u2026 That\u2019s got to be who we are. I know we\u2019re going to scramble around and compete defensively, but can you finish the possession?\u201d<\/p>\n
After going 1-1 in the first two games without two starters, the Nuggets entered Wednesday\u2019s slate at 13-4, tied with the Lakers for the second-best record in the Western Conference. The Nuggets gave up 128 points in a loss to the Kings, who were without Domantas Sabonis, and allowed a Grizzlies team without Ja Morant to score 115.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust talking and being more communicative of who is in what spot on defense and stuff like that, that solves a lot of problems,\u201d Jamal Murray said. \u201cYou\u2019re not going to always know what other teams are going to do or be as prepared for, so as long as everybody has each other\u2019s backs and is in the right spot and doing it with aggression, we\u2019ll be fine.\u201d<\/p>\n
What They\u2019re Saying<\/p>\n
The Nuggets\u2019 coach is happy to have three consecutive days off, but isn\u2019t so thrilled with a schedule that sent his team from New Orleans to Houston, back to Denver for one game, off to Memphis for another before a Friday-Saturday back-to-back that includes a flight to Phoenix for Saturday\u2019s game.<\/p>\n
\u201cI also think it\u2019s rare to go south and play two games, come back to Denver and then go south again,\u201d Adelman said. \u201cRarities are happening at a rapid rate around here.\u201d<\/p>\n
On a lighter note, Adelman detailed his Thanksgiving plans \u2013 plenty of sides, some film study and some video games.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m going to play \u2018Call of Duty 7\u2019 with my son, play some zombies. That\u2019s outrageously fun this year. I\u2019m excited to throw on some COD with my son over there. He\u2019s a lot better than I am at it, but it\u2019s fun to follow him around.\u201d<\/p>\n
What I\u2019m Following<\/p>\n
Denver dropped to third in ESPN\u2019s latest power rankings. The Nuggets sit behind Oklahoma City (17-1) and Detroit (15-2).<\/p>\n
Nikola Jokic remained atop The Ringer\u2019s ranking of the top 100 players in the NBA after Tuesday\u2019s update. Jokic, Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, Lakers guard Luka Doncic and Spurs center Victor Wembanyama rounded out the top five. Jamal Murray (29), Aaron Gordon (35), Christian Braun (91) and Cam Johnson (94) gave Denver five players in the top 100.<\/p>\n
The Mavericks are going to be down another body for a few games. Center Dereck Lively II will miss Dallas\u2019 next three games due to swelling and discomfort in his right foot. The 7-footer had surgery on the foot in July.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Denver Gazette beat writer Vinny Benedetto takes you around the NBA and inside the Nuggets locker room: NBA…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":315715,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[355,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-315714","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-nba","9":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315714","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=315714"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315714\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/315715"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=315714"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=315714"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=315714"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}