Game 4 preview: Nuggets need better offense in must-win Game 4
The Denver Nuggets can’t afford to lose Game 4 against the Los Angeles Clippers.
After their last two inspired performances, there’s no doubt that the Denver Nuggets can stick with — if not defeat — the Los Angeles Clippers. However, the fact remains that Game 4 is a must-win for the Nuggets, who find themselves down 2-1 to the Clippers after they lost steam in Game 3.
Nikola Jokic has played like the All-Star he is against Los Angeles, averaging 24.3 points and 11 rebounds per game (both team-highs) while adding 5.0 assists per game. His .527/.467/.800 splits are impressive considering Ivica Zubac’s defensive ability and the difficulty of many of his shots, but The Joker can’t do it alone.
Unfortunately, Jamal Murray is only averaging 17.7 points and 7.0 assists, cooling down against the Clippers. After a sensational showing against the Utah Jazz where he was blistering hot, Murray is shooting just 37.7% from the field and 30.4% from three this series thanks to LA’s bevy of defensive specialists.
Without Will Barton in the bubble, Denver will need to rely on another player to step up and be the team’s third scorer. Although Paul Millsap currently has the team’s third-highest scoring average with 12.3, it’s hard to see him being able to pick up Murray’s slack.
However, Jerami Grant and Michael Porter Jr. — averaging a combined 20.6 points per game — should be able to collectively pick up the slack once they improve their play.
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In both players’ cases, they’re shooting far below their capabilities from three-point range, shooting a combined 7-34 (20.6%) from outside.
Yet, where Porter needs to stay grounded and make smart plays even when he’s heating up, Grant needs to take better shots as well. MPJ is obviously the more explosive scorer and, after he put up 18 points in 23 minutes in Game 3, it’s clear that he can be a difference-maker for Nuggets offensively if he plays more.
That doesn’t mean that Grant can’t ease the stars’ scoring burden by hitting his open threes. According to NBA.com, he’s 0-6 from 3-point range this series when the shots are “wide open” (closest defender not within 6 feet) and 3-10 when shots are “open” (closest defender between 4-6 feet).
MPJ isn’t doing much better, shooting 1-6 from three on “open” shots and 1-4 from three on “wide open” attempts this series. However, his aggressiveness on the offensive glass gives him the chance to get a few more easy attempts than Grant.
In sum, Murray, Grant and Porter all need to be a bit more efficient, all while continuing to play with the defensive effort they’ve put forth in the last two games. It’s intriguing that they’ve held Kawhi to below 30 points in each of these games (he’s actually averaging 21.7 points per game), after he scored at least 30 points in the last five games LA played against the Dallas Mavericks in the first round.
That said, they’re actually managing to slow Kawhi down a bit, executing their double-teams well and swarming him in the paint. Yet, the Clippers have so many offensive options, that Denver will need more than their defense to defeat them. Their offense needs to step up too.
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