Denver Nuggets: Danilo Gallinari Returns In Wire-To-Wire Win Over Indiana

Danilo Gallinari scored 21 in his return as a healthy Denver Nuggets team blew out the Indiana Pacers in a crucial road win.

In mid-January, Denver Nuggets head coach Mike Malone decided to replace Emmanuel Mudiay with Jameer Nelson in the starting lineup. From that point forward, their ideal starting five has included Nelson, Gary Harris, Danilo Gallinari, Nikola Jokic and either Wilson Chandler or Kenneth Faried at the four.

Saturday night was the first time in five games that they were able to start either of those lineups. The result was dominance. Indiana tied the game twice in the first quarter, but they never held the lead.

Gallo made his presence felt early as he knocked down the first bucket of the game for Denver. Their next score came on a three from Wilson Chandler, who followed that up with another three with just over two minutes played. Chandler finished with 24 points on 10-of-16 shooting from the field, spacing the floor effectively by going 3-for-5 from beyond the arc.

The rooster dropped 21 in his return, but Gallo didn't shoot the ball well at all. He finished just 2-for-12 from the field but as usual, he got his from the free throw line. He knocked down 17 of 18 attempts from the stripe. This is one of many components to his game that the Nuggets missed so badly.

Gallo is Denver's leading scorer, and he's capable of scoring in a lot of ways. He's effective from the catch-and-shoot, hitting 40 percent of such three-point attempts on just under four attempts per game. He's capable of scoring out of the post as well, with a variety of fadeaway shots in his arsenal. But it's the free throw shooting that this team missed so desperately.

Since Dec. 15, only the Golden State Warriors have recorded more assists per 100 possessions than the Nuggets. Denver is at its best when the ball is moving and players are cutting to the rim, but even they have moments where the offense stalls.

It's crucial to have a player who is capable of putting his head down and drawing a foul. No one on this Nuggets team does it better than Danilo. He goes to the line almost twice as often as the next player on the roster, taking 6.3 attempts a game while knocking down 89.9 percent of them.

Both Chandler and Gallo bring a lot to the table for this Nuggets team, but perhaps the most important part of having them in the line up is what it does for Jokic. Big Honey went off, dropping 30 points on 12-of-18 shooting from the field, while corralling 17 total rebounds and tacking on five assists as well.

A lot of that performance can be chalked up to Nikola's individual brilliance, but much of it is due to having the full starting lineup back on the floor.

I already mentioned what Gallo can do on the catch-and-shoot from three, but with Harris out there and Chandler shooting like he did on Friday, the defense has to respect the perimeter. That creates space for Jokic to post up down low and feast on interior defenders.

The Serbian Sensation clearly lives up to his nickname down low. But the knowledgable NBA fan is also well aware of his passing ability.

So are his teammates, as off-ball cuts to the rim have become a staple in this team's identity. Four of Jokic's five assists went to either Chandler or Gallinari on Saturday. None of them were tastier than this one:

The Nuggets have won 10 of 16 games to start the second half of the season, and they're just now returning to full strength. Gallinari and Chandler are back in place, and not a minute too soon.

They'll need to fire on all cylinders on Mar. 28 when they take on the Trail Blazers in Portland. For Denver, the playoffs start now.

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