Peyton Watson continues to make the process of going from a supporting actor to leading man look easy.

The Beverly Hills native was elevated to Denver’s No. 1 option Friday when Jamal Murray was ruled out an hour before tipoff against Atlanta with an illness and ankle injury. The 23-year-old’s performance was one of the few positives as a severely shorthanded Nuggets squad’s 110-87 loss to the Hawks at Ball Arena.

“Since college, when people kind of doubted my ability to contribute offensively, I think that’s always been something that I’ve been itching to get out and prove to people,” Watson, sporting a “Marty Supreme” jacket at his press conference, said. “At the end of the day, waiting my turn was the best thing for me. I’ve gotten so much better. I’ve developed a lot. I’ve had time to mature as a young man, and right now, it feels like perfect timing to kind of unleash what I’ve been working on.”

Watson led the Nuggets with 25 points, scoring more than 20 for a sixth consecutive game. He added 11 rebounds, four assists, three steals and a block in a well-rounded performance. His 19 shot attempts led the Nuggets, as no other player took more than 11.

“He’s trying to make the right play,” Nuggets coach David Adelman said.

“Peyt’s been such a bright spot as of late. He’s one of the main reasons why we’ve been able to somewhat keep ourselves afloat.”

After Murray and Spencer Jones joined Nikola Jokic, Cam Johnson and Jonas Valanciunas as inactives, the Nuggets started Jalen Pickett, Christian Braun, Hunter Tyson and DaRon Holmes II alongside Watson against a Hawks team that was without Kristaps Porzingis, Zaccharie Risacher, CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert. The only negative from Watson’s showing was the five turnovers he committed. Part of that could be chalked up to playing in lineups that don’t have much time together. Adelman credited some of Watson’s turnovers to poor spacing from his teammates.

“We have to put responsibility in other people’s hands. For him to ball handle the way he is, I’m hoping that springboards him when we get our whole group back and now, he’s not having to go one on three like he did tonight. He can be attacking closeouts. If he’s finishing the way he’s doing it, that will be a huge, huge thing for us going forward,” Adelman said.

“There are always positives.”

A lot of Watson’s work was done behind the scenes in his previous years with the NBA. Zeke Nnaji said Watson’s playing like he did in pickup games a few years ago before he was a regular member of the rotation. With the rash of injuries and illnesses, Watson has started more games this season than he had in his three previous seasons combined.

“We’ve all seen the potential,” Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon said.

“With the right opportunity and the right circumstances, he’s showing what he can do. We’ve known what he can do for a long time.”

The elevated role has come with some new lessons, namely just how hard it is to be a leading man. It’s not quite as easy as Nikola Jokic and Murray can make it look.

“I got a lot of respect for guys like Jamal and Jok, who I’ve seen do it for years now,” Watson said.

“It’s definitely really, really tough. It demands a lot out of you physically, mentally and just leadership wise.  I definitely learned that it’s something that’s not easy to do, but I’m just trying to do it to the best of my abilities and help our team win any way I can.”

HAWKS 110, NUGGETS 87

What happened: Atlanta turned a two-point lead after the first quarter into a 58-50 advantage at halftime. Denver took a one-point lead to the fourth, but Atlanta’s 20-3 run to start the fourth sealed the Nuggets’ fate.

What went right: Hunter Tyson led the Nuggets to a 25-16 advantage in the third quarter. Tyson scored all 10 of his points and hit a couple of 3s in the quarter and finished with four rebounds and four assists.

What went wrong: Denver turned the ball over 18 times, leading to 15 Atlanta points. The Nuggets also scored just 12 points in the fourth quarter.

Highlight of the night: Tyson got to show off his hops early in the third quarter. After a Christian Braun block, Jalen Pickett hit Tyson with an outlet pass, and Tyson cocked the ball back for a two-handed slam in transition.

Up next: The Nuggets host the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday at Ball Arena.