Denver Nuggets: 2 players who must step up vs. Celtics

Player #2: Torrey Craig

Torrey Craig is not having the best season to date.

After getting a 3-year extension in the off season after an impressive rookie campaign, Craig has looked like the worst version of himself on offense in a lot of games.

He is averaging 4.5 points and 3.9 rebounds per game on 41.7% shooting from the field and a horrid 15.8% from 3. Those averages would be fine on last season’s high scoring Nuggets team. They are a little troublesome on this year’s edition of the team.

While Craig is having a pretty good year on defense, notably shutting down Kevin Durant and Donovan Mitchell over the past few games, he is taking 2.4 3-point attempts per game and is making just 0.4 per game.

On a Nuggets team that is the 3rd worst at shooting 3-pointers in the league, that attempts to makes ratio is unacceptable. Craig, unlike Harris, is not a great shooter in a slump. He made under 30% of his 3-point attempts last season and doesn’t have a smooth stroke when shooting the ball.

Craig needs to stop taking so many 3-pointers unless he is absolutely wide open. From now on, he needs to focus on going to the basket or slinging passes out to his teammates. The less energy he exerts on offense, the better, as he will need to focus on shutting down Gordon Hayward and Jayson Tatum, two very offensively capable forwards.

If Craig is not a liability on offense, and he limits the Celtics on defense, he could quietly be one of the Nuggets best players on the night, as he often is.