Denver Nuggets: 3 takeaways from Game 2 loss vs. Blazers

3. Jokic needs to be more involved

In Game 1, Jokic was touching the ball on just about every possession down the floor. That’s important for this team’s success. Their offensive scheme is built around the plays that he’s able to make.

In the first half of Game 2, he had just five shots. He made up for that in the second half with 12 more, but he never got rolling, as he shot just 4-of-12 in the second half. He’s going to take them as far as they will go, and they need him to play more like Game 1 moving forward.

He also needs to get more touches near the basket to earn more free throw attempts. He had 12 of them in Game 1, but that number fell all the way to four in Game 2. Whether it was the four fouls that he collected early or the Blazers’ double- and triple-teams to take the ball out of his hands, Denver needs to adjust and find ways to get him favorable looks again.

https://twitter.com/NBAonTNT/status/1123779122545811456

If his shot isn’t falling early, he can defer to some of the other guys, but at the beginning of the third quarter, when they were cutting into the lead, it was Jokic running the offense and throwing slick passes that most of his other teammates just can’t make. If he’s doing more of that in Game 3, the team will be in a lot better position.