4 reasons to watch nuggets on the route

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The Denver Nuggets are not the same team that won the NBA championship two seasons ago and has lost three rotary players against the freelance agency in the last two offsease. But they remain a title candidate because they have the best player in the world and maybe he has the best season of his career.

With 16 games in the season, the Nuggets are in third place in the west, with second place Memphis Grizzlies (with which they will compete last week) with 42-24.

Nikola Jokić gives the Nuggets an opportunity against every team in the league. But they also showed some mistakes, especially against other good teams.

Here are some notes, numbers and films on the nuggets while we drive down the season …

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1st painting dominance

The nuggets are last for the second season in a row and with a healthy lead in 3-point rate (35.3% of their shots). Although they took third place in a 3-point percentage (38.2%), they were exceeded in 42 of their 66 games from beyond the arch.

This sum is connected to the pelicans for the league lead. But while New Orleans 7-35 is when they are exceeded from a 3-point range, the nuggets are 23-19. There are only three other Team Oklahoma City (16-5), Houston (13-11) and the Lakers (17-15)-who have won records when they are made by Deep. The 23 victories of the Nuggets are six more than any other team this season and have tied up for the second most common team for each team in the past six years.

The nuggets make up their 3-point discrepancy by dominating the color. You lead the league in Paint differential (plus 8.0 points per game) and take sixth place in free throw (plus 1.4 points per game).

They are one of four teams that rank among the top 10 in the free -wurdate (10th) and the free -wing (fifth) (fifth). However, this painting difference is mainly about the offensive of the nuggets.

They are the only team in the top 5 in both Field Goal percentage in the color (60.7%, third) and the percentage of their shots (54%, third). The New York Knicks (nine and ninth) are the only other team at the top 10 In both.

Highest percentage of shots in color

%FGA = percentage of the entire field goal attempts

The nuggets are led by Jokić, who took second place in the league in the league with 16.7 points per game. It has an incredible combination of size, footwork, patience and touch.

You know where you want to bring the ball down in the series of tight games …

Jokić not only scores in color. He also achieved 5.4 assists per game (second to Trae Young) at Layups and Dunks because he is a center.

Some of these templates come in the transition, with a career high of seven HIT-HEAD passes to take the sixth place in the league. This is a big reason why Christian Braun leads the league in fast break points per game.

First and foremost, Jokić is a huge basketball genius with the ball in the middle of the floor and many teammates that cut into the basket from every corner …

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2. The Westbrook question

Jokić's brilliance has been exhibited for several years, but the Nuggets can somehow be seen even more this season with another former Kia -MVP.

Jokić and Russell Westbrook have 200 assists together, the fourth highest sum for every combination of players this season, only two more Jokić pairings and the duo of the kings of Malik Monk and Domantas Sabonis. But Jokić and Westbrook played together for less minutes than these other combinations, and their 6.2 templates per 36 minutes together on the floor are the highest rate among the top combinations.

Most combined templates between teammates

Min = minutes together on the floor together
Pro 36 = helps each other on the floor per 36 minutes.

If you have a security guard who drives the transition, bend the defense a little and eagerly feed the most efficient top scorer in NBA history, this is generally a good thing. In addition, the nuggets need all competent rotation that you can get.

But overall they were (even) worse with Westbrook on the floor than with it from the ground (minus 8.9). They were almost twice as good with Jokić on the floor without Westbrook as with the two on the floor.

Nuggets with Jokić and or Westbrook on the floor

Offrtg = points per 100 possessions achieved
DefrtG = points per 100 possessions permitted
Offrtg = point difference per 100 possessions

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3. A great decline in defense

This season, the Nuggets have approved 114.7 points per 100 possessions, which rose the 21st place and rose from 112.3 per 100 (eight) last season. Only the pelicans, Sixers and Suns have seen larger defensive declines.

In connection with their dominance inside, the Nuggets have a great decline in the color of the opponents who came in color, which is generally a good cause, since color shots are more worth more than that from outside.

But their opponents shot better in both color and outside than last season …

Nuggets' opponent shooting, last two seasons

Paint% = percentage of pictures from the color
3PA% = percentage of the recordings from a 3-point range

With a great increase in the percentage of the shots of their opponents, who come from a 3-point range, the Nuggets also saw a big jump in the percentage of their opponents' 3-point attempts, which come from the corners. You have already approved more corner 3-pointers (264, 4 per play sieve sieve theater) than the last season (234, 2.9 third linen).

Pro Second Spectrum Tracking, the Nuggets are still one of the most aggressive teams in the league that defend the pick-and-rolls, whereby the reporting “Blitz” or “Show” is used to 17% of the opponent ball screens, the third-highest rate of the league and the fifth (fifth highest) league last season.

An aggressive pick-and-roll cover can often be opened to 3s on the weak side of the floor.

At the end of the third quarter on Wednesday, Jokić was on a handover for Anthony Edwards on the 3-point line. Jalen Pickett was deep in the color in front of Nickeil Alexander Walker in the left corner, and responsible for the protection of the basket, Rudy Gobert should roll to the edge.

The result was an open and rhythm 3 pointer for Alexander Walker …

The league made an average of 3.7 corner 3s (per team) per game. The nuggets have approved four or more in each of their last 14 games.

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4. Fight against the best

Defense was the bigger problem because the nuggets have to struggle against the best teams in the league.

By Thursday, 11 teams are at least nine games over 0.500. The nuggets are 5-15 (only the bucks were worse) in games between these top 11 teams. Before winning in Oklahoma City on Monday, they had lost 10 games in a row (their last victory was December 3.) within the group.

With this 10-game defeat in the top 11, the Nuggets allowed 126 points per 100 possessions. Her opponents shot 60.6% in color and 41.8% from 3-point range, including 46.9%.

Even when they won in Oklahoma City on Monday (in the second games of back-to-backs for a 12: 1 league), the Nuggets enabled the thunder to achieve 127 points for 99 possessions (128.3 per 100). They won by having the most efficient game (with a healthy lead) for each team against the highest defense of the league.

The nuggets are in a narrow race around the sowing in the Western Conference and could take place between the second to sixth place. You still have 16 games on your schedule and nine of the 16 are in the top 11 of the league, two more against teams – Indiana and Sacramento – with profit records.

You (and your defense) will be tested a lot by April 13th.

These nine top 11 games include two against the Lakers in the next six days, with the first in Denver on Friday (on Friday (on Friday (9:30 p.m. ET, NBA TV).

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John Schuhmann is a high -ranking statistical analyst at NBA.com. You can send it here by email, find his archive here and Follow him on X.

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