Denver Nuggets: Getting Killed By Slow Starts
Sigh. The Denver Nuggets are off to a slow start and with only one win in six games the team appears to be struggling to go head to head with other NBA teams so far this year.
After the Nuggets were able to flip Evan Fournier for Arron Afflalo this past offseason, it appeared that the team had the necessary talent (when healthy) to compete for a top eight finish in the Western Conference and a playoff birth. Ty Lawson is solid leader at point guard, Kenneth Faried appeared to be on pace for an All-Star season, and Afflalo’s addition meant the team had a legitimate starting five coming off the bench, so the depth was there as well.
So, what’s wrong? Why are the talented Denver Nuggets currently losing games by an average of 8.8 points a game?
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The struggle boils down to a lot of factors. For one, the team is only shooting 41.5 percent from the floor – the second worst shooting percentage in the league. They are also struggling on defense because they’re giving up 108 points a game, and only the Los Angeles Lakers give up more. The Nuggets have yet to get a great game from either of their “star” players, Ty Lawson and Kenneth Faried, and the team still looks a bit confused about spacing on offense.
Yes. Both offensively and defensively the Nuggets are struggling. However, the explanation goes a little bit deeper than the notable issues above, and the team’s true Achilles heel so far is their trend to get off to a slow start. By struggling early on, the Nuggets are from continuously playing from behind.
Head coach Brian Shaw is not doing a good job at getting his Nuggets ready to go by tip off. Denver is losing the first quarter by an average of 10.2 points a game through their first six games. If the Nuggets just finished the first quarter tied, they’d only have lost those first five by an average of 1.3 points a game. More than 100 percent of the score differential deficit is happening in the first quarter. The ugly start habit appeared again last night when the Nuggets got outscored by nine points in the first quarter.
Further more, the Nuggets struggle coming out of the locker room EVEN AT HALFTIME. The team has been outscored in the third quarter by an average of 3.2 points a game. So, in the quarters immediately after the locker room, the Nuggets are losing by 13 points and it’s a huge reason the offense and defense hasn’t been good enough to get victories.
Despite the third quarter slowness, the Nuggets are actually winning the game when just looking at the second through fourth quarters. Until last night’s game, in those quarters they Nuggets were outscoring opponents by 1.8 points on average (according to NBA.com’s stats). So, the Nuggets are currently defined by slow starts and failing to use the rest of the game to dig themselves out of the early hole. Even though, when it comes to the second quarter and after, the team is playing much better basketball.
The Nuggets are remarkably better, and actually look like team we were expecting to see, in the “comeback” quarters (second and fourth). If the Nuggets can sustain that play over a full 48 minutes, and come out shooting a bit better than they have, this team will find a way to win games. It’s on Brian Shaw to make the necessary changes to get this team playing consistent basketball from the first whistle to the last horn.