Los Denver Nuggets They seek to do in 2024, what only one team – Golden State in 2017 and 2018 – achieved in the last 10 years of the NBA: win a two-time championship. Michael Malone’s men established themselves last season and are once again among the favorites to be crowned in the current one… although first, they will have to overcome a increasingly noticeable and alarming defect.
Usually, it is said that once the Playoffsthose who decide the matches are the stars and the starting quintets. Coaches often shorten rotations to 8 or 9 players and limit the time on the field of their less reliable substitutes as much as possible. But although this maxim is supported by reality, there are also nuances and minimum requirements that every team should have. And at this moment, it seems miss Denver.
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It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the Nuggets are competing to have the worst second unit in the NBA. Let’s take this Tuesday’s game, with a 117-107 overtime loss to Phoenix. Even in a 53-minute duel, Denver barely managed 16 points from his relayswho combined for a gruesome 6 of 19 from the field and 1 of 9 in triples. The culprits? Peyton Watson, Christian Braun, Reggie Jackson y Zeke Nnaji.
This low production of the Nuggets’ substitutes is nothing new and if we review each statistic around the league, we find Denver’s bench among the worst: they rank 26° in points, 28° in field percentage and three-point percentage, 29° in percentage of free, 28° on rebounds, 22° in assists and 25° in +/- .
In fact, only the substitutes Raptors, Wizards, Hornets, Spurs y Pistonsfive of the worst teams in the league, have a lower differential than the Nuggets.
While is true that part of these problems were already seen in 2022-2023 and they did not prevent them from getting the title -thanks to a starting quintet that today fights with Boston to be the best in the competition-, they have enhanced in this campaign.
The issue of efficiency and percentages is the most notable.
Suplentes FG% 3P% FT% 2022-2023 season 46,3% (12°) 34,1% (20°) 72,0% (24°) 2023-2024 season 43,6% (28°) 32,9% (28°) 68,2% (29°)
The Nuggets substitutes their percentages decreased in all areas, with field success being the most notable: they went from having the 12th highest in the league, to the third worst, in addition to sinking to a dismal 32.9% in triples. Something especially worrying, taking into account that the role of relief in the Playoffs – at least in attack – is usually precisely that: Score some open shots and make the most of the few opportunities that appear.
This is not too surprising, considering that the Nuggets They lost their two most productive substitutes in the 2023 Playoffs -Bruce Brown and Jeff Green-, without replacing them with players of their level.
This decline occurred to such a point that Christian Braun, eighth man of that champion rotation – 13 minutes on average in the Playoffs – and Reggie Jackson, who was not directly part of it, today become the only hopes for points and impact between the relays. Although in both cases, with a lot of inefficiency on the back: Braun has the worst effective field percentage among the 10 players who see minutes with Malone. Jackson, the second worst.
In the Playoffs the stars win and Denver has several top-level players. But just remember important that Bruce Brown was in several games in the Finals against Miami, to understand that behind those main names some secondary players also need to step forward in decisive moments. And today, those pieces are conspicuous by their absence in the defending champion’s build.
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2024-03-06 16:33:54
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