Hoops Habit
Fansided

Denver Nuggets: Five reasons the Nuggets are for real

By Dean Hasan

DENVER, COLORADO - FEBRUARY 12: Jamal Murray #27 of the Denver Nuggets brings the ball down the court against Avery Bradley #11 of the Los Angeles Lakers in the third quarter at Pepsi Center on February 12, 2020 in Denver, Colorado. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
DENVER, COLORADO - FEBRUARY 12: Jamal Murray #27 of the Denver Nuggets brings the ball down the court against Avery Bradley #11 of the Los Angeles Lakers in the third quarter at Pepsi Center on February 12, 2020 in Denver, Colorado. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
5 of 6
Next
(Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
(Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /

2. Denver plays defense (in their own way)

While the Denver Nuggets of old trended towards a “twice the offense, half the defense” model, this season Denver has greatly bolstered their play on what has traditionally been a weak end of the floor for them. They are currently 11th in defensive rating (and trail Oklahoma City by mere hundredths of a point for 10th and seventh place Brooklyn by 0.7 points).

In terms of counting stats, they’re also tenth in steals, and rank seventh in points allowed off turnovers, seventh in fast-break points allowed, and while they’re 21st in defensive rebounds, they’re also seventh in second-chance points allowed, meaning that opponents aren’t translating these extra possessions into significant leads.

This season, teams that square off against the Nuggets are converting on just 39.1 field goal attempts per game, a mark that lands Denver at eighth in the league. The Nuggets also defend just 85.9 shots per game (fifth least in the NBA), likely as a byproduct of their low-tempo offense.

Related Story. Montrezl Harrell leads the Sixth Man ladder. light

Denver takes the sixth-most shots (10.0 percent) late in the shot clock (seven to four seconds left), and the fifth-most shots (9.9 percent) very late in the shot clock (four to zero seconds left) in the NBA. In a way, offense is the best defense for the Nuggets as they siphon time off the clock and effectively limit possessions for their opponents.

https://twitter.com/nuggets/status/1231742153052700673

When playing Denver, opponents’ tempo grinds to a halt, and of the 27 different teams they’ve played this season, only the Golden State Warriors, Washington Wizards and Milwaukee Bucks managed to play at a pace higher than their season average. Moreover, 16 of their 27 opponents found themselves playing at a pace even slower than that of the 29th place Nuggets.

While the mile high altitude may come into play, even when controlling for that (i.e. only looking at Denver on the road) the number of teams that play slower than the Nuggets is still 16 of 22, and this time around only the Bucks and Warriors managed to outpace their average while hosting Denver.

To give credit to the Nuggets, they do defend the three-ball well and they give up free throws to their opponents rather infrequently. This season, opponents are shooting just 34.2 percent from deep against Denver (third lowest in the NBA), they commit the 11th-fewest personal fouls per game, and they allow the 12th-fewest free throws per game in the NBA. Their defensive discipline, combined with their controlled offensive gameplan allows them to suppress their opponents’ scoring, and to great success thus far.

Home/Denver Nuggets