The Denver Nuggets stayed winless in Summer League, falling to 0-3 after losing to the Charlotte Hornets 80-66. Julian Strawther did not play – his Summer League has already been impressive enough to show Denver that his offseason time has been well spent and he’s on track for more minutes when the real season gets here. That freed up minutes for some others, as did PJ Hall not playing. The Nuggets only shot 30.9% from the field without them however, with Au’Diese Toney going 1-for-7 from the field in Strawther’s spot and Denver’s center position not being nearly as effective without Hall. Hunter Tyson led the team with 20 points on 5-for-18 shooting to go with 4 boards, while Trey Alexander had 18 points on 12 shots with 8 rebounds but jut one assist. Jalen Pickett added 8 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists but the attack just floundered at too many key points. Nick Smith Jr. had 18 points on 21 shots to lead the Hornets, but they had 6 players with at least 9 points while Denver had just 2.

Game Recap

Trey Alexander opened the scoring for Denver, followed by Au’diese Toney’s layup playing Strawther’s position. Hunter Tyson made an easy 4-footer off an assist by the center Aimaq, and then Alexander faded to the baseline with his dribble after the offense stalled and hit a nice fallaway. Denver didn’t have a lot of guys on the floor with handles, so they relied on movement and screens to try to create opening, to varying effectiveness. Jalen Pickett was off-ball as much as on-ball but his transition bounce pass was nice and showed good vision even though it didn’t finish with points. Hunter Tyson finished an Alexader assist with a three, and Pickett finish nicely in the paint for a 13-9 Denver lead early.

Gabe McGlothan hit a nice free throw jumper after a Charlotte three over Hunter Tyson, but troubles on the defensive glass gave Charlotte multiple opportunities and a trip to the line. Both teams struggled to score for a couple of minutes, with Pickett having a 5 second turnover and an out of bounds pass turnover followed by a missed pullup 3. Denver continued to struggle with the defensive glass and turnovers, and a traditional 3 point play put Charlotte back on top. Denver’s Franklin twisted his ankle in the final seconds of the first during a made Hornets 3, Jahmir Young missed an impressive-looking dunk for Denver, and Charlotte led after 1 22-15.

Hunter Tyson followed up opening free throws with a good defensive close-out to the corner three, then buried a catch-and-shoot 3 from three feet behind the line. Denver kept getting out-hustled for rebounds though, with 9 offensive boards for the Hornets in the first 12 minute of the game. Tyson got blown by on the way to the basket by Nick Smith Jr. in transition, but Fardaws Aimaq got a bucket back from 10 feet on a Pickett pocket pass to cut the deficit to 24-22.

Each team exchanged misses and turnovers for the next couple of minutes, with Pickett missing a 15 foot stepback but making a 10 foot paint jumper after a charlotte 3. Trey Alexander came back in the game and dribbled into a nice three to cut the lead back to a bucket, then nailed another 3 from the other side of the court off a Pickett assist. Pickett missed a jumper, Alexander grabbed a board and was fouled on the way to the bucket. Alexander made 4 free throws on back-to-back drives and kept getting involved on the defensive glass. Marcus Garret for Charlotte buried a three over Pickett to tie the game at 34. The offense staggered to the first half finish though, with Pickett’s free throws answered by a last second Charlotte 3 that sent Denver to the half down 39-36.

Denver forced Charlotte into a 24 second clock violation to start the second half, but a couple of turnovers sandwiched around Trey Alexander’s paint bucket made it easier for Charlotte to extend their lead. Tyson missed a shot but then made a 3, then Alexander drove the hoop for more free throws. Charlotte kept cutting up Denver’s interior defense for easy buckets, though, and extended their lead to 8 at 51-43. Charlotte pushed the lead to 12 after Jalen Pickett airballed a step-back 10-footer from the edge of the paint, and two Nuggets failing to get a rebound led to a Hornet dunk to finish a 14-1 run and put Charlotte up 59-44. Walter Ellis hit a running 3 and grabbed a board that led to a Jahmir Young layup to cut the deficit to 59-51 after 3.

The fourth quarter started with ugly offense showcasing half-court bricks and some fouls, with Tyson getting fouled on a drive and making a couple free throws. Parker Braun missed a three, and didn’t get many shots up for the game but was effective as a paint big in ways that Denver’s other front court players were not. Salaun made a paint bucket and a three for Charlotte to stretch the lead back up, and Alexander got called for traveling. His attempt at an oop did not work (timing mixup) but Pickett made a free-throw pullup. Matt Morgan hit a floater and a 3 for Charlotte though to make the deficit 12 at 74-62. Nick Smith Jr. made a three to make it 15, and Denver eventually fell 80-66.

Final Thoughts

Trey Alexander still looks like a player. He struggled with some finishes late, but his ability to drive the hoop and get to the line as well as knock down threes still looks like a playable skillset. He was off-ball for part of the game but made himself available and crashed the boards well while keeping his head up for deflections and box outs. He even gave a little sideline interview in game where he laid out the game plan and expectations extremely well. If some other parts of Summer League have been a disappointment, Alexander remains a bright spot.

Tyson and Pickett are still showing too much of what they can’t do. Tyson was more aggressive in this game but 5-for-18 is a terrible Summer League line, and he gobbled up even more possessions on drives he couldn’t finish but was fouled on. 4 rebounds in 31 minutes is a problem, and one of the reasons his squad was out-rebounded by the Hornets. Jalen Pickett also took it upon himself to try to score more, but missed several non-paint shots including an airballed step-back just outside the paint. His assist game didn’t come to fruition either (not entirely his fault) and he was not able to drive the hoop against the Hornets which forced Denver into tougher shots. He was not able to direct the Nuggets to any kind of efficient offense, though choosing the game where Denver had more limited paint players to do paint stuff probably wasn’t the most effective way to go about implementing his interior-oriented game. In the end, both men took on bigger roles but were not as successful at them as they needed to be for Denver to win. Summer League is more about the journey than the destination, but there are still too many rocks in the rode for it to be a smooth ride for this squad yet.

Denver still misses DaRon Holmes. Or PJ Hall in this one, but Holmes and his ability to both rebound and shoot would have been extremely helpful against Charlotte’s longer players. After his successful surgery yesterday, Deuce can get on the mend. Hoping for the best recovery possible, big guy.