DENVER -- Earl Boykins darts and dashes through traffic,
scoring in bunches and at big moments.
Eduardo Najera knifes his way inside, tap-tapping above the rim
until his teammates secure the ball, diving to the floor to make
sure they keep it.
Wesley Person drops in 3s from all angles and distances, Greg
Buckner shadows the opponent's best shooter and Nene bulls his way
through anyone who gets in his way.
A cohesive blend of grit, grace and guile, Denver's bench makes
sure the Nuggets don't have a letdown when the starters go out. And
that's saying something considering who's in Denver's starting
lineup.
"I have a lot of ways to go," Nuggets coach George Karl said.
"It's fun to coach a team that will let me deal some cards."
That's for sure.
Denver has a solid starting five that includes former All-Stars
Kenyon Martin and Andre Miller, star-in-the-making forward Carmelo
Anthony, do-it-all center Marcus Camby and streak-shooting DerMarr
Johnson.
But when it comes time to give those guys a break, the Nuggets
don't miss a beat when the subs come in. In fact, Denver's bench
often adds to what the starters started.
That's what happened Saturday night against Seattle. The
starters opened up a 12-point lead by the midpoint of the first
quarter and three minutes into the second the reserves had it up to
22, leading to a 16-point win over a potential first-round playoff
opponent.
"They are such a deep team because of their bench," Seattle
coach Nate McMillan said. "It gives them versatility. When they
want to run more and pick up the tempo they have the guys on the
bench. When they want to pick up defensive pressure they have they
can do that."
And it's been that way since the All-Star break. The Nuggets
weren't exactly big players at the trade deadline, adding Najera
and Person, but the moves were just what they needed.
With Karl using a substitution pattern that at times seems more
fit for a hockey game, Denver's bench has averaged 43 points over
the past 18 games, scoring at least 50 six times after doing it
twice in the first 58 games. The Nuggets' subs scored 63 points in
a win over Washington on March 22 and nine players have played at
least 20 minutes in the same game six times.
Thanks to that deep bench, Denver has averaged nearly 110 points
over the last 13 games, eclipsing 120 three times. The Nuggets also
have won 21 of 23 games for their best stretch since the early ABA
days and are within a game of reaching the playoffs in consecutive
years for the first time since 1995-96.
Not bad for a team that seemed to be headed nowhere a little
over two months ago.
"We just try to provide energy for the team," Boykins says.
The boisterous Boykins leads the way.
The league's smallest player -- 5-foot-5, 133 pounds -- Boykins
plays like he's running from a fire the second he enters the game,
constantly pushing the pace and probing the defense for weaknesses.
Boykins tends to score in bunches -- he set an NBA record with 15
points in overtime against Seattle on Jan. 18 -- and has a knack for
hitting shots with the clock winding down.
"He shoots over a hand 90 percent of the time and in my opinion
he's been our best open shooter," Karl said.
Certainly, there's more to Denver's success than Boykins.
Najera has been the hardest working Nugget since coming over
from Golden State in a trade-deadline deal. Though he averages
about eight points and eight rebounds a game, he provides so much
more with his scrappiness, fighting post position on defense,
keeping offensive rebounds alive and charging up the crowd with his
relentlessness.
Person wasn't a good fit in Miami and the Heat released him on
March 1.
What a break for the Nuggets.
Since arriving in Denver, Person has given the Nuggets the
outside shooting they had been missing since Voshon Lenard was lost
for the season in the opener. Person's presence has opened up the
inside and improved Denver's 3-point shooting -- from 30 percent the
first four months of the season to 42 percent the last six weeks.
Nene has progressively gotten stronger over the last month after
going on and off the injured list early in the year. He's averaged
14.3 points and 7.4 rebounds as a starter and played so well last
week that Karl had Martin come off the bench for three games after
he missed four with a bruised chest.
Buckner has always been a superb defender and has filled that
role nicely for the Nuggets, tackling the task of slowing the
opponent's best shooter on a nightly basis. He averages nearly two
steals a game and is just as effective at making sure his man
doesn't get the ball.
Add in Francisco Elson, a scrappy defender who can play forward
or center, and Bryon Russell, a veteran who can knock down 3s and
tighten the screws defensively, and the Nuggets have one of the
league's deepest teams.
"The bench is part of the right chemistry, the right
personality," McMillan said. "The bench gives them scrappers,
rebounders, defenders and shooters and scoring balance. They're
playing well right now."