The end of the NBA regular season is approaching game-by-game and week-by-week, teams are looking to make a push for seeding in a tight Western Conference and the Denver Nuggets currently have a three game lead over the Oklahoma City Thunder for the second seed.
The Denver Nuggets have been up and down lately dropping four of their last five games, two of which at home to the Utah Jazz and New Orleans Pelicans.
Looking back further the Nuggets have won six of their last 10, but now isn’t the time to be going on losing skids when the top teams of the Western Conference are getting healthy and making great pushes for a high seed.
The Denver Nuggets are one of the offensive rebounding team in the NBA
The Nuggets average 12.3 offensive rebounds per game, good for second in the NBA behind only the Oklahoma City Thunder with 12.4.
Offensive rebounding comes from the top and it’s clear to see with the Nuggets. Nikola Jokic averages 2.9 offensive rebounds per game to lead the team, but Paul Millsap and Mason Plumlee aren’t far behind averaging 2.3 and 2.2 offensive rebounds per game, respectively.
Offensive rebounds feed into what the Nuggets are doing well this season.
Maybe it’s time for the Nuggets coaching staff to stagger Jokic, Millsap, and Plumlee in the postseason for Denver to play its offensive brand of basketball against smaller or less physical teams for longer stretches.
Let the 3-ball fly
The Nuggets have some great 3-point shooters on the squad with Monte Morris and Malik Beasley both shooting over 40 percent from behind the arc this season.
But even with two players shooting over 40 percent the nuggets rank 16th in the league in made and attempted threes per game. This season has been one of the most prolific three-point shooting season in NBA history with teams jacking up threes at a higher rate than ever before, so maybe it’s time for teams best 3-point shooters attempt more than 7.6 threes a game.