Things looked dire for Arron Afflalo‘s return to the Denver Nuggets after he didn’t play a single minute in the second half of a 130-113 home loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on Nov. 1. Heck, things looked dire for the entire Nuggets franchise after the second straight loss to the Blazers, but a huge red flag was waving when the Denver’s biggest offseason acquisition wasn’t able to make the floor in the second half.
Questions were flying around Afflalo and head coach Brian Shaw following the second half benching. Did the pair fight in the locker room? Did Afflalo refuse to play? Is this the second coming of the Andre Miller incident? Will he be able to find his niche on this team? Basically it was a mess, and Nuggets nation was worried that the trade that brought Afflalo to Denver in exchange for Evan Fournier was a loss for the team.
Adding to the fans’ concern was Afflalo’s mediocre play up to that benching. Afflalo wasn’t playing like the Afflalo Denver Nuggets’ fans remember from his first stint with the team. In the first seven games, Afflalo averaged only 11.3 points a game (more than seven points less than his 2013-14 average) on only 37.8 percent shooting from the floor. The player we expected to return as a borderline star looked, to be frank, burned out.
However, the benching must have sparked the flames to Afflalo’s fire. Ever since that loss to Portland, Afflalo has been balling, and his improved play is a key factor in the Nuggets winning seven of their last nine games.
In those nine games, Afflalo has been much more Afflalo-y, and now we all remember why people were so excited to see the shooting guard from Compton and former UCLA Bruin return to Denver. Since the Portland loss, Afflalo is averaging 18.2 points a game on a scorching 49.6 field goal percentage. He’s also shot a hot 47.7 percent from three-point range in that stretch.
Those percentages mean the Nuggets have a very efficient option on the offensive end of the floor by going to Afflalo. For comparison, Afflalo’s 57.5 true shooting percentage (a metric that measures the increased value of three-point shooting when measuring shooting percentage) is the best percentage of any guard on the Nuggets this season. Afflalo’s average is only 0.2 percentage points less than Golden State star Klay Thompson‘s 57.7 true shooting percentage.
With Afflalo playing like deadly assassin from the floor, it’s no wonder the Nuggets are stringing together wins again. His confidence is rising with every good game, and his teammates are learning to let him work on offense.
Consistent with his first stint as a Nugget, Afflalo is also helping the team close out leads with great shooting late in games and by shooting 85.7 percent on free throws. Personally, I was sure happy to see Afflalo’s killer instinct return to Denver, and the dagger three to halt Chicago’s late comeback last Tuesday is proof he’s still got it.
General manager Tim Connelly showed great instinct in giving up a promising player in Evan Fournier to get Afflalo this past offseason. Despite the bad start, Afflalo is emerging as the perfect backcourt complement to Ty Lawson, and if he can continue this play the Denver Nuggets will continue to win basketball games.