It was on November 6, 2006 that Paul Millsap made his NBA debut with the Utah Jazz. In that game, Millsap scored just two points in nine minutes of action, but that was just the beginning. Millsap is currently in his 14th season in the NBA and you would have no idea by watching him.
Millsap is the oldest player (34 years old) on the Nuggets roster, but that has not slowed him down, especially against the Mavericks on Tuesday night. Even though it came in a loss, Millsap had his best game of the season scoring 23 points on 9-of-17 shooting from the field. Millsap shot 3-of-4 from downtown and was nailing threes left and right.
Not only was Millsap scoring the basketball efficiently, but he also hauled in eight rebounds, one of which led to an incredibly impressive put-back dunk.
After starting his Nuggets career with two solid seasons, Millsap could be in store for his best year with Denver. Through four games, Millsap is averaging just 12.8 points, 3.3 rebounds, and one assist per game, but throw in just under a block and steal per game, and it’s clear that he’s playing incredibly well on both ends of the floor.
It is a small sample size, but Millsap’s three-point shooting has been the most impressive to start the season. Millsap is second on the Nuggets with a three-point shooting percentage of 46.7 percent, which only trails Monte Morris at 50 percent. The big difference there is Millsap has fired up 15 threes this year while Morris has attempted just two.
Millsap’s start to the season is something we should have all seen coming after how well he played in the preseason. In three preseason games, Millsap had games of 13, 13, and 14 points and he shot over 50 percent from the field in all three games. Millsap was also 6-of-9 from three in the preseason, which supports how well he has shot from distance to begin the season.
If Millsap can continue to shoot this well from three, it could be huge for a Nuggets team that is shooting 36.2 from distance to start the year. As the Nuggets continue to find their offense, Milllsap will be a huge part in that as Denver’s starters finally got something going against Dallas.
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Against the Mavericks, all five of the Nuggets starters finished in double-figure point totals with Millsap leading the way with 23. It was just one game, but it is one game that supports everything else Millsap has done to start the season.
As the lone veteran on this Nuggets team, Millsap is going to play a huge role in Denver’s success this season. Not only is Millsap still playing great defense in his 14th NBA season, but he has not lost a step offensively. If anything, Millsap could be in store for his best offensive season since 2016-17 with Atlanta, which was a year he averaged 18.1 points per game and made the all-star team.
As the Nuggets continue to search for some consistency to start the year, one thing has stayed the same: rock solid play from Millsap. Not only has Millsap been fantastic to start the season, but there is no indication he is slowing down anytime soon.
