Nuggets at Suns takeaways: Denver rolling on the road, but struggling in turnover battle

The Nuggets defeated the Suns - on a back-to-back for both teams Saturday night in Phoenix They improved to - with the win staying unbeaten this year after a loss Here are three takeaways Turnover trend Maybe everybody necessities to be a little more aggressive holding them using two hands and testing the executives I think Nikola Jokic stated The Denver Post on Friday when inquired about Denver s modern defensive woes Because that s what they do to us His pointed remark spoke to both of the Nuggets defining failures in a - loss that eliminated them from the NBA Cup their lack of physicality and point-of-attack containment as well as their turnovers which turned into San Antonio points The Nuggets haven t lost much this season but at least two things are usually true when they do In four of their five defeats they ve lost the turnover battle And in four of their five losses their opponent has coughed it up fewer than times That makes their bounce-back win Saturday a bit of an anomaly The Nuggets committed turnovers to Phoenix s seven They committed five before they scored their first points a troubling start that seemed to foreshadow lethargy In several stretches of the event Denver got loose with the ball The Suns scored points off the turnovers numerous of them live-ball mistakes But when the Nuggets are solely able to throw the ball at the rim as Jamal Murray put it this weekend good things tend to happen They shot from the field and from -point range in the win led by a -for- outing beyond the arc by Tim Hardaway Jr Spencer Jones made four s in a breakout offensive championship Murray knocked down five The unit s made s were its greater part since April The turnover battle trend will be worth monitoring as the season develops more Denver forces only per encounter second-fewest in the NBA meaning the burden is on the offense to play clean on a consistent basis Road warriors Typically a franchise that takes advantage of its unique home-court advantage the Nuggets have strangely lost three consecutive home games but won seven straight on the road They ve also won their last road games that have occurred on the second leg of a back-to-back Their only loss on hours of rest this season was at home to Sacramento Jokic continues to be at his best when you d think his legs would be heaviest Playing with his left wrist bandaged up he re-aggravated a sprain against San Antonio he still went for points nine rebounds and assists in a near-perfect shooting match The star center made all six of his shots from the floor and of free-throw attempts The Suns switched a ton with small-ball lineups and tried to bring the physicality to him as he pointed out Friday In four back-to-backs this season Jokic is averaging points boards and assists Related Articles Grading The Week Nuggets Jamal Murray sure looks like NBA All-Star to us Renck File Rockies Paul DePodesta keeping Warren Schaeffer looks bad But here s why it makes sense With NBA Cup-eliminating loss Nuggets are reminded of defensive flaws Peyton Watson on switching agents to Klutch Big opportunity at hand this year Nuggets Mailbag Ranking Nikola Jokic s greatest passes after no-look dime to Peyton Watson Brown also plays through injury Bruce Brown came up limping after a hard landing under the basket Friday and was officially diagnosed with a right knee sprain on the Nuggets injury record he notified The Denver Post he hyperextended it Nonetheless he joined his teammates on the quick trip to Phoenix and played through it providing steady play-making when nobody else could Even Jokic and Murray were responsible for five turnovers each despite their overall effectiveness Brown hasn t been a clean finisher in transition at the rim this year but he compiled a season-high assists and just one turnover in the win That s in addition to the defensive tenacity he usually brings to the championship Denver necessities that from him more than ever right now with Aaron Gordon and Christian Braun nursing their own injuries The new second-unit look with Brown Hardaway Jones Zeke Nnaji and Jonas Valanciunas has been giving David Adelman solid minutes Brown s injury will be another to monitor in upcoming games as the Nuggets are not well positioned to sustain more long-term losses than they already have They host the Mavericks on Monday