By Jordan Long
The Denver Nuggets came into this season with high expectations. Denver ended last year at 46-27, 3rd in the Western Conference making the playoffs for the 2nd consecutive season. They knocked off the Utah Jazz and the L.A. Clippers after being down in both best of 7 series 3-1 before losing to the L.A. Lakers in the Western Conference Finals 4 games to 1. They were expected to compete for at least the 2nd or 3rd seed in the West and possibly advance to the NBA Finals but the goal was the Western Conference Finals again. It didn’t help that in free agency they lost reserve small forward Jerami Grant to the Detroit Pistons. He was a key part of the Nuggets bench.
The Nuggets right now are 6-7, a half game from a playoff spot. There are 4 teams at 6-6, the Dallas Mavericks, Golden State Warriors, Memphis Grizzlies, and Oklahoma City Thunder. They are only two games back of the Phoenix Suns for 4th place. Even with their slow start, the Nuggets are still in a position to at least push for a top 4 seed in the West.
The Nuggets expected Jamal Murray to take a step forward. He was outstanding in the playoff run averaging 26.5 points per game. That was supposed to help him develop into a “superstar” in this league. Murray isn’t living up to the expectations but is helping this team score averaging 20.3 points per game which is a career high so far. He still has time to show he can take his game to the next level.
The MVP of the Nuggets who should be in the conversation for the league MVP is Nikola Jokic. Jokic is averaging a triple-double to begin the year. He leads the Nuggets in average points per game at 25. He is grabbing 11.4 rebounds and finding his teammates for assists at 10.3 per game. The way he is playing, he will receive some MVP votes at season’s end. It may not be enough to beat out Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry for it if Denver is a low seed in the playoffs and the other two are higher seeds.
The Nuggets have 5 other players who are averaging 10+ points per game. Will Barton averages 11.3 points per game. JaMychal Green and Monte Morris give the Nuggets energy off the bench. Green scores 11.1 points while Morris takes on 11 points. Paul Millsap and Gary Harris both average 10.4 points per game.
The offense is not the problem for the Nuggets. This shows they have shooters who can make shots anywhere on the court. The team averages 115.4 points per game, 7th in the NBA. Denver is one of the better teams at making 3 pointers at 37.7%, 9th in the NBA.
Denver struggles at the free-throw line. Free throws are supposed to be free points assuming they can swish them. Their percentage is 73.9%, 21st in the NBA. They aren’t taking advantage of them. Denver needs to improve at the line. If they do, those close losses could be wins. It’s not that hard to work on it in practice.
An area Denver was hoping to improve on this year was defense. They haven’t yet. There are times on defense where the opponents pass the ball around and that ball movement places the Nuggets defenders off of their man. These are wide open looks for buckets. Denver also allows players to drive into the lane for easy dunks or layups. Denver is giving up 112.5 points per game, 21st in the NBA.
The Nuggets are lucky to be where they are in the standings. If not for their offense, it could be a much worse start. The Nuggets must work on their defense. They can’t keep giving up 112.5 points per game or allow opponent’s to have effortless looks at the basket. Denver needs to learn to play tight defense. This will cut down on teams having wide open shots. If they can develop their defense Denver should be back in the mix for the playoffs and maybe a top 4 seed.
The Nuggets don’t need to panic yet. It is only 13 games out of 72. It is a small sample size. Denver has plenty of time to turn this season around. This team can be dangerous once they put it all together and maybe have another deep run in the postseason.
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