Monte Morris helps power Nuggets comeback victory

Down 23 points in the second half, Monte Morris and his Denver Nuggets teammates defeated the San Antonio Spurs 127-120 on Monday.

Any players that come to The Basketball Movement looking to get better are special. Monte Morris of the Denver Nuggets may just be about as special a player as we have had. The young guard is a tenacious defender and is more than capable as a scorer and distributor. Perhaps even more impressive is his possession of the clutch gene.

In an exclusive interview with The Basketball Movement, Morris describes a particularly big moment in Monday night’s game: “My adrenaline was pumping,” says Morris. “I saw (LaMarcus) Aldridge closing, but I let it fly. I knew it was in.” The shot Morris is describing was an extra deep three that acted as an exclamation point to the furious comeback the Nuggets mounted to close out the third.

“I glanced at the scoreboard and knew I had three or four dribbles,” Morris recalls. “It was deep, but that’s a shot we practice all the time. I knew how much I had to get under it and let it fly.” The Nugs had been clawing their way back and had the home crowd whipped into a frenzy. Morris’ deep bomb came at the final buzzer of the third quarter and cut the game to four. The crowd exploded.

The video below starts at four and a half minutes to give a feel of momentum and crowd excitement. Morris’ big moment comes at 4:48:

Paul Millsap and Jamal Murray also had big second-half performances en route to the Nugget victory with Nikola Jokic also excellent as usual. Monte Morris did his damage in only 22 minutes, totaling 16 points and four assists, finishing with the best +/- on the team.

Morris has been rolling of late, averaging 14 points and four assists per just 0.5 turnovers over his last six games. He has been shooting 54 percent from the field including 40 percent from deep.

We asked him what his mindset will be after the upcoming All-Star break: “I just need to continue playing at a high level,” Morris tells The Basketball Movement. “I’m going to be well-rested and ready to go.”

Denver plays tonight on ESPN (9:00 pm CST) against the LA Lakers and NBA All-Star captain, LeBron James. Then, Morris and company will get a much-deserved rest over the weekend before continuing their push to be a top team in the Western Conference heading into the Playoffs.

We would wish Monte luck, but he seems to make his own just fine. Hard work is paying off for Monte Morris and we will all be watching as his story continues to unfold.

NBA Summer League: More highlights

2018 NBA Summer League action is wrapping up. We take a look at a few more highlights including some of The Basketball Movement's top talent.

We have already taken a dive into Deonte Burton's stellar NBA Summer League. He averaged 11/6/3 with nearly two steals and blocks per contest. Even before his strong play, he inked a two-way deal with the OKC Thunder. How have other Basketball Movement standouts fared?

Indiana Pacers forward and former Missouri State University standout Alize Johnson has had a big Summer. After being selected in the second round of the NBA Draft (50th), Johnson has now officially signed a contract with the Pacers. The terms have not been released.

In just 23 minutes per contest, Alize average 12.4 points, 8.6 boards, and 1.6 steals. Despite not being the biggest player out there, Alize's 8.6 rebounds have landed him 13th in Summer League so far in that category.

Another player to pass through The Basketball Movement's doors on his way to the top is Monte Morris. After a strong season last year on his two-way contract, the Denver Nuggets only needed four games out of Morris to be reminded of what he can do. He average a whopping 17.5 points on 50 percent shooting to go with 6.3 assists.

Morris has yet to re-sign a deal, but has shown enough to certainly warrant another contract. The Nuggets have recently gotten deeper at guard with the signing of Isaiah Thomas, but someone will make room for Monte.

The rest of NBA Summer League

NBA Summer League ends tonight with the championship game between the Lakers and Trailblazers. The Lakers are headlined by NBA sophomore Josh Hart, who is currently leading Summer League in scoring at 24.2 points per game. That match will be tonight at 9:00 PM Central on ESPN.

Another second-year NBA man, John Collins of the Hawks was on fire this Summer, averaging 24 points and 8.5 boards. His rookie teammate Trae Young averaged 17 points after a slow first few games to go with seven assists.

A couple of other rookie standouts were Kevin Knox of the Knicks and Collin Sexton of the Cavaliers. First overall pick in the NBA Draft, Deandre Ayton averaged 14.5 points and 10.5 boards for the Suns to go with solid defense. Another hyped-up draft pick, Luka Doncic did not play due to injury.

There has been a lot to sift through already from these guys with more on the way with the championship matchup of this league tournament coming up tonight.

Stay locked in with The Basketball Movement as we follow our guys, and basketball as a whole. Keep grinding!

All stats per NBA.com