NBA Playoffs: One thing to watch for each Game 7 participant

Can Denver’s bench hold the fort at all?

While Portland’s bench has been vital in this series, Denver’s has been a turnstile that constantly leaves Mike Malone in a bind with how much he can rely on it. The second-unit relinquishes leads built by the starting five, can’t produce consistent offense and lack solid defenders outside of Malik Beasley.

It’s no surprise when you look at the four worst +/- for Denver in this series that the quadrant of Mason Plumlee, Beasley, Monte Morris and Will Barton led the way. Plumlee offers little to nothing outside of the paint. Morris can’t initiate offense as well as he did in the regular season.

Barton has had some solid moments in this series against his former team, but not enough to run the show by himself. Beasley’s shooting 33.3 percent on 3-pointers, which isn’t a high enough clip for him to stay on the floor over Gary Harris and Torrey Craig who offer better defense and floor spacing.

So how much will Mike Malone trust this group, if at all? Denver went seven games in the first round against the San Antonio Spurs, and now has another Game 7 against Portland. There’s little reason to believe Malone will use this collective bunch as anything more than a stopgap with the season on the line, and they don’t need much from them in terms of minutes.

Their starting five has been steady this series. Nikola Jokic and Paul Millsap have dominated their frontcourt matchup. Jamal Murray has done his typical chucking and difficult shotmaking while Gary Harris and Torrey Craig have done well in making life difficult for Lillard and McCollum defensively. This five may all play over 40 minutes and may have to if they are to outlast Portland.