By Jordan Long
The Denver Nuggets head back to Denver down 0-2 after two blowout losses. Last night, The Suns drummed the Nuggets 123-98. Denver is hoping the home court for the next two games will even this series out. The Nuggets though have problems on both the offense and defensive end that they need to improve on.
Offensively, Denver hasn’t been able to hit a shot behind the arc. In game 1, Denver was 14 of 40, or 35%. In game 2 that percentage was even worse. They hit the same amount of 3’s but attempted 43 of them. Their percentage in game 2 was 32.6%. In total, Denver is 28 of 83 from the 3 point line in this series or shooting 33.7%. In game 2, the Suns went into a zone defense for most of the game. They weren’t going to let Nokila Jokic, Aaron Gordon, or Michal Porter Jr. beat them on a drive or have easy looks at a layup or the rim. The zone forced the Nuggets to shoot 3’s and the Suns dared them. Of course, Denver proved they couldn’t make them.
Denver is not having the ball movement they should. It’s been one pass and the shooter goes up, even if it is a high percentage shot. There are times where they are working the ball in but not enough to make a difference. The Nuggets totaled 50 assists in the series so far. They can’t seem to drive on the Suns. Even when there are open looks, Denver can’t make them. They are 41.1% shooting in the series to this point. When they drive the shot is blocked or they aren’t fouled. Denver has gone to the free throw line only 26 times so far.
On defense, Phoenix is having their way against the Nuggets. They have better ball movement which has equaled open looks. Denver isn’t switching or going to put pressure on the wide-open shooter. When a shooter has no one guarding him, it is pretty easy to fire away and make a basket. The Suns have made 31 3’s. The Suns are shooting an impressive 50.8% from the field in two games.
The Suns have been the better team in the two games. According to ESPN, after last night’s loss, Head Coach of the Denver Nuggets Mike Malone said, “I saw one team that wanted to be here, that played with a purpose and urgency, and one team that did not want to be here and played with no urgency. And that’s why we got our ass kicked. … We had a lot of guys play really bad tonight. And then we allowed the impact of not making the shot to affect the other end, and it was really — this was just an embarrassing performance all the way around, top to bottom.”
Denver needs to adjust for games 3 and 4. Going into game 3, the urgency for Denver must be different. They have to play it like a game 7. Denver may have to use a different lineup. The Nuggets regular lineup hasn’t been effective to this point. It could be to switch Facundo Campazzo for Monte Morris and JaMychal Green for Aaron Gordon. The only problem with swapping Green for Gordon is Gordon is a better defender so they may miss his presence on defense. Will Barton also needs to play more. Barton could see more minutes even if it is off the bench which could give Denver energy they need.
The Nuggets know they are in a big hole. They can’t go down 3 games to 0. There hasn’t been an NBA team that has lost the first 3 games and then win game 7. There have been 3 teams to go down 0-3 and force a game 7, only to lose it. Those are the 1951 New York Knicks, 1994 Denver Nuggets, and 2003 Portland Trail Blazers. The key for Denver is winning game 3. Denver has a home record of 25-11 this season. Hopefully, that will work to their advantage and cut this deficit to 2-1. Game 3 is tomorrow night with tip-off set at 8:00 PM Mountain time.
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