After 133 days without any official games, the NBA returned in style with four scrimmage games. Out of the four, the Denver Nuggets vs Washington Wizards game stole the show. Nuggets coach Michael Malone was faced with a rotation problem after having just eight players available. So with three centers in their starting five, the Nuggets took the field with the tallest lineup in NBA history.
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Point Jokic is one of THREE centers in the Nuggets’ starting five today 👀 pic.twitter.com/GHWVLIvqei
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) July 22, 2020
So how would this lineup matchup against the small-ball Houston Rockets? There were immediately jokes on Daryl Morey when the Nuggets released their lineup, and Morey’s sense of humor was on full display when he replied to the jokes.
https://t.co/ePxS3f7G3U pic.twitter.com/epkWs804MU
— Daryl Morey (@dmorey) July 22, 2020
Can the Denver Nuggets win this hypothetical matchup?
Hypothetical because there is no way coach Malone plays this lineup in an actual game. He was forced to last night due to having just eight available players.
Out of all players in the Rockets starting five, Russell Westbrook will have the toughest time against this lineup. His game involves a lot of driving into the paint since his perimeter shooting is below average. He’ll struggle to do that here since he’ll be up against seven-footers and not a smaller guards.
James Harden will have a field day against Jerami Grant if he starts at shooting guard again. Grant is a good interior defender but is not agile enough to keep up with Harden on the perimeter. Harden will stick to his step-back game and keep raining threes.
Similar to Harden, Eric Gordon, Robert Covington, and P.J. Tucker all rely on outside scoring heavily. The Nuggets tall lineup has Nikola Jokic and Bol Bol who are too static and unathletic to keep up with that. However, none of the Rockets players are renowned for their shooting ability. They’ll only be able to win if they have a good shooting day. Otherwise, they will be outrebounded miserably and they will be pounded them in the paint by the Nuggets.
It could be a very fun game to watch. However, it is very unlikely coach Malone will give the fans such a lineup against the Rockets, if they potentially face them in the playoffs.
