Denver Nuggets: Ty Lawson Needs To Think ‘Score First’
It’s amazing to have basketball back, my friends, even if the the Denver Nuggets started the season off struggling to score the basketball. The 2014-15 campaign still started with a win against the Detroit Pistons at home, and a disappointing road loss to a heavily injured Oklahoma City Thunder team.
Even with the small, two-game sample size, the Nuggets have already taught us some things about this young season. In both the win and the loss, the Nuggets’ defense was the best part of their game. Denver’s opponents average 90.5 points a game so far, but their offense has looked RUSTY. The team only managed to score 89 points against Detroit at home, and 91 against the Thunder.
It’s a good sign the Nuggets actually won a game where they failed to score over 90 points, as that’s been rare the past five years. The Nuggets need to become a team that can win a half court game as well as a track meet, but through two games, the offense doesn’t look good enough to win playing either style. There needs to be some serious improvement on offense if the Nuggets want to take advantage of Russell Westbrook‘s injury and get ahead in the division race early on this season.
The Oklahoma City game was a lot uglier than the final score showed, and it was because the Nuggets failed on offense for most of the game. They only had 56 points after the third quarter, and only 33 points at halftime. Oklahoma City’s zone defense had the Nuggets confused almost all night, and the Nuggets made only 22 of their first 59 shots. This is a concerning early trend as Denver struggled from the floor and shot only 35.3 percent in the Detroit game as well.
Luckily, some serious improvement arrived in the fourth quarter of that Oklahoma City game. The Nuggets found their rhythm, and exploded for 35 points in the period. They finally made shots and shot 61 percent in the quarter. In the offensive explosion, the team managed to make the loss at least interesting and got the Thunder’s lead all the way down to two points at one point.
There was a specific change we can thank for providing the Nuggets’ offense the spark it needed, and we need to keep that spark going. Ty Lawson sparked the offense by changing his attitude from “pass first” to “score first.”
Ty Lawson is a traditional point guard, and throughout his five seasons with the Denver Nuggets, the point guard has always tried to get the offense in a good rhythm through his passing first. Lawson will try to get someone hot before looking to score himself. He’s stayed true to that style so far, as he only took seven shots for three points in the Detroit game, and he recorded only six shots and 11 points through three quarters against Oklahoma City.
Then, Lawson flipped the switch. He attacked the rim looking to score before passing during the forth quarter, and Lawson shot as many in the quarter as he did previously for the whole game (six). The Nuggets’ best player scored 14 total points in the quarter — and only recorded one assist.
The result? The Nuggets had their best offense quarter so far – 35 points (more than the Nuggets’ total in the first half), on 61.9 percent shooting. Even with Lawson looking to score and only recording one assist in the fourth quarter explosion, the Nuggets had more assists (eight) than they had total in the first half (seven), meaning that Lawson’s score first attitude results in a much more fluid offense, and better passing anyway. Lawson’s teammates actually get into the game easier when the defense is worried about stopping him.
It’s a lesson that the Nuggets, head coach Brian Shaw, and Ty Lawson need to take to heart going forward. These Nuggets have the talent to average over 100 points a game, and it’s on Lawson to direct the offense by being aggressive and looking to score before looking to pass.