Improved defense earns Doug McDermott key fourth-quarter minutes

Two games don't constitute a trend. But that was McDermott playing the first nine minutes of the fourth in Monday's victory over the Spurs and following that with a 12-minute finishing stint in Wednesday's triumph over the Nuggets.

McDermott hit his lone shot — a 3-pointer — as part of his second straight double-digit scoring game in the Nuggets' victory and grabbed two rebounds. But that's not what stood out.

"The reason he's starting to play extended minutes is because of his defense," coach Fred Hoiberg said. "He did a really nice job on (Spurs swingman Manu) Ginobili the other night and I thought he really battled out there (against the Nuggets) as well. It's very important to have a guy like Doug on the floor because of his ability to shoot and stretch the floor. That opens up driving lanes."