A new-and-improved second unit has been more than enough reason for most of the Nuggets to breathe easier.

Nikola Jokic, apparently the exception, channeled a favorite fictional career from “Peaky Blinders” to explain.

“I never relax and breathe easy,” Jokic said after his second triple-double in as many games to start the season.

“Thomas Shelby said, ‘There is no rest for me in this world.’”

With respect to the Peaky (bleeping) Blinders, they aren’t around to see what Jonas Valanciunas, Tim Hardaway Jr., Bruce Brown and Peyton Watson are bringing to the Nuggets. Had the season-opener not gone to overtime, Jokic would’ve played just under 36 minutes, fewer than the nearly 37 minutes per game he played last season. In Saturday’s comfortable win over the Suns, Jokic played just over 32 minutes.

“It keeps the minutes at a good place,” Nuggets coach David Adelman said of the help the second unit has provided to start the season. “That’s most important in the sense of the long run of this.”

Hardaway Jr. has been the first player off Denver’s bench to start the season. Watson, Brown and Valanciunas have followed in some order, while Spencer Jones have served as a defensive specialist in the 10th-man role when Jamal Murray isn’t staggering with the bench. Adelman said Murray won’t spend the entire season playing alongside the second unit, but that’s the case heading into Monday’s game in Minnesota.

“We can get a lot better. We’re still just getting comfortable with each other and the timing and all that,” Murray said. “I think we were pretty good on the defensive end, talking and kind of just holding the lead for as long as we did. I just see a lot of potential for the future with that group.”

Hardaway led the reserves with 10 points in the season-opening loss, while Valanciunas added eight. Valanciunas (12) and Brown (11) led the reserves on Saturday.

“I think everybody contributed in their own ways. We’ve got a lot of guys on this team who are really good at their role,” Watson said. “We’re just working on gelling together and building that chemistry and just making sure that the final product on the court is what it needs to be.”

Watson had the best highlight of the second unit. Early in the second quarter, Watson set a screen for Murray at the top of the key, rolled to the rim and elevated for an emphatic one-handed slam over Khaman Maluach, Phoenix’s 7-foot-1 rookie center.

“Peyton’s activity tonight was great. He screened well. He got on the rim,” Adelman said. “Everyone’s going to talk about his dunk, which was a highlight play, but he had multiple times where he explored the paint with the roll, and that allows you to produce offense behind it. A lot of good stuff.”

There was another sequence that showed the expanded options at Adelman’s disposal. Jokic was playing with three fouls in the final minutes of the second quarter. To avoid a potential fourth, the Nuggets’ coach threw Jones in there for a possession. The 24-year-old instantly showed the defensive versatility that’s helped earn his coach’s trust.

Jones started by guarding Suns center Nick Richards but got switched onto Devin Booker.  He cut off a drive to Booker’s right, recovered to prevent the Suns’ star from driving left and didn’t give up an inch when Booker tried to bump him off to create space for a shot. Booker eventually had to give up the ball with fewer than 3 seconds left on the shot clock, and Phoenix turned it over after a shot clock violation. Jones checked out after the possession, and Jokic returned to feed Murray for a 3-pointer that put Denver up 17 at halftime.

It was the kind of possession that allows Adelman to breathe a little easier in the notorious non-Jokic minutes.

“I was really proud. I put Spencer in for 30 seconds, and he plays unbelievable defense,” Adelman said. “Guys just have to be patient with their opportunities when they come. And when they do come, you have to give it everything you have. That unit has a chance to be successful as we work our way through what the best actions are for that unit.”