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The Nuggets harnessed the power of the white headband to execute a bounce-back blowout.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, one of six players in Denver’s rotation wearing one, scored a season-high 24 points Saturday night to lead the way in a 142-110 win over the Atlanta Hawks at Ball Arena.
The Nuggets (54-24) moved a half-game in front of the Timberwolves for first place in the Western Conference with four games remaining, aided by Minnesota’s and Oklahoma City’s coinciding losses Friday. After two days off, the defending champions will play their final back-to-back of the season, starting in Utah before a consequential clash with Minnesota.
Two nights after their bench was outscored 21-0 in the first half of a loss to the Clippers, the Nuggets were buoyed by 58 points from the bench. Michael Malone’s second unit consisted entirely of players wearing white headbands: Reggie Jackson, Justin Holiday, Julian Strawther, Peyton Watson and Zeke Nnaji, who was back from a back injury after missing the last nine games. That lineup produced a 16-7 run to start the second quarter, helping the Nuggets establish a lead before the starters blew it open in the third.
Also back from injury was Jamal Murray, who supplied 16 points and six assists on 6 of 11 shooting in a suitably modest 20 minutes. He had missed seven consecutive games with an injury categorized as right knee inflammation, though he has also been dealing with shin splints and multiple ankle injuries this season. On top of that, he was wearing wraps around his knee as well as his back when he began to warm up. In a ginger pregame routine, he briefly took a seat on the bench before shedding the knee wrap and continuing.
Behind him at point guard, Jackson scored a refreshing 18 points while while playing through an illness. He could be seen removing a surgical mask at the scorer’s table when he checked in for the first time.
But Caldwell-Pope was the Nuggets guard who truly shined on a night when Nikola Jokic casually added a 19-point, 14-rebound, 11-assist triple-double (including another full-court outlet pass to Holiday, who gestured “touchdown” with his arms after an easy layup). Caldwell-Pope was 9 for 12 from the field and 6 for 9 from beyond the arc. He scored all his points by the end of the third quarter. He contributed two steals at the defensive end.
The 31-year-old has attempted multiple 3-pointers in 11 consecutive games. He’s making them at a 50.8% clip during that stretch. Dating back to the beginning of March, he’s 46.2% on 4.9 attempts per game.
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