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Nuggets suns preview1/22/2024 ![]() The Nuggets can live with Murray-Jokic pick and roll being vulnerable. If the Suns try and attack him defensively, he has to hold up. He’s a different, and much better, defender now. It was his second playoff run, and he had actually tweaked his back in that series. The Suns tortured MPJ two years ago in the matchup. They have to win this series with points.Ģ. Phoenix is not well-built to defend Denver, Denver is not well-built to defend the Suns. If Denver finds ways to create not just efficient offense, but trade 3’s for 2’s, that gives them a chance. The Suns, as Suns fans know, don’t take enough threes. But they can outscore Phoenix using math to their advantage. The Nuggets are not going to slow down a team capable of shooting above 50% in the mid-range. What are 3 keys to the Nuggets winning the series against the Suns?ġ. Denver’s resistance to 1-4 switches will be important in this series. But they also surrender switches easily and give teams the opportunity to pick their personnel matchups. They have athleticism with Michael Porter Jr., Aaron Gordon, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Christian Braun. ![]() That’s Denver’s upside: they get better at rotational timing the more they play a team at the same time Jokic figures out things on the offensive end more and more. Denver got better as the season went on at the weakside rotations out of the hedge or blitz. How do the Nuggets hide or mitigate that weakness? If you get Jokic in his worse situations, you can light up the Nuggets. When they drop, Nikola Jokic is as bad as people tend to suggest his defense is all the time. But too often it leads to open corner threes. The Nuggets have things they can do well when they play at the level and blitz, they can recover and get back to challenge. That’s against a Timberwolves team missing several key pieces and while Anthony Edwards is awesome, he’s not nearly the level of pick and roll player the Suns have. Denver was 21st in pick and roll defense this season, and has the second-worst mark behind the Bucks in the playoffs. Furthermore, when that happens, their defense suffers and it creates a spiral. Get them out of that, and they rely a lot more on individual player excellence, and they have some of that, but not like the Suns have. When they’re not on the same page, the dynamic offense that astounds can look sloppy and disjointed. When Denver fails to get into its sets, it’s a lot easier to stop.įinally, just connectedness. IF you’re going to run an offense dependent on multiple actions and leveraging the defense, you need more time to do it. In related news, the Nuggets are 27-7 (79%) when they have fewer turnovers than their opponent, and 30-23 (57%) when they have more.ĭenver also suffers when they don’t initiate the offense early. You can run the ball down their throat off turnovers, which is a big reason why their transition defensive numbers are horrendous. Like any great passing offense, the Nuggets can get sloppy, and when they do, they don’t have the ability to get back and get stops. What keeps the Nuggets from exhibiting that greatest strength all the time? Denver has nights where the offense doesn’t look good, they’re not as singularly talented as Phoenix at just “dribble shoot, bucket” but when they’re clicking? It’s a nightmare to try and stop and it hits you like an avalanche from all angles. You want to play it straight up? He’ll score 40 on 25 shots. You want to double Jokic in the post? He’s the best in the league at manipulating it for open looks, and he’ll bring you up high to find cutters underneath. You want to switch? They’re putting your small in a pick and roll defending the screener. ![]() They have layers upon layers and options beyond options. The five-man starting offense around Jokic. Q: What is the Nuggets greatest strength (what no one can stop, when they’ve got it going)Ī. As a resident of Denver, Matt sees the Nuggets in person for all their home games as he scouts all 30 NBA teams on their way through Ball Arena. Matt covers all 30 teams on a level of detail few of us can hope to attain because he’s always analyzing the betting angles for Action. You might know Matt from his days as ‘Hardwood Paroxysm’ or from. We Suns fans certainly don’t know as much about the Nuggets as we do about the Suns, so here’s some insight on the Suns next opponent. I checked in with long-time colleague Matt Moore of the Action Network for his thoughts on the Nuggets. ![]() Suns-Nuggets Preview: Notes, Quotes, Stats, Odds and more
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