The Denver Nuggets got off to a shaky start in the first half against the Western Conference Champion Phoenix Suns. However, there were plenty of bright spots to highlight and Nikola Jokic looks even better than he did last year.
Denver will be reliant on him and his ability to create offense for the team as they have in the past, but especially without the scoring creation of Jamal Murray for a majority of the season.
Will Barton and P.J. Dozier came alive late in the game and knocked down a plethora of 3-pointers to push the Nuggets lead to start the fourth quarter. The Nuggets were able to pick up the victory late in the second half with a major rally by their bench. They put up an 11-2 run with Jokic on the bench that allowed the starters to come in and secure the victory 110-98.
Michael Porter Jr. looks like he has improved again, his handle looks tighter and he looks to be attacking the rim harder than he was last year. He even operated as the ball handler in the pick-and-roll with Nikola Jokic.
He picked the defense apart with a double screen that he went into a pull-up jumper and then passed out to his rolling big man. He looked like he was moving well and looks like he has put in a ton of work in the off-season.
Michael also looks to have improved as a team defender. His ability to slide over and protect the rim or play the passing lanes has definitely gotten better.
Dozier was one of the players that impressed me the most on opening night for the Nuggets. He looks more and more comfortable within the flow of the offense.
I wish he would put the ball on the floor and attack the rim especially when matched up against smaller guards. He has such a massive frame he looks like he should be able to work any guard down low.
P.J. came alive late in the game and knocked down some big 3-pointers in the second half. His jump shot is quick and he always stays ready for a quick cross-court pass from Jokic. I love him coming in with the second unit and replacing Porter Jr., while not as skilled offensively, he mirrors him defensively with his length and his ability to catch-and-shoot.
Facundo Campazzo got back to his usual defensive pestering presence. He locked up Chris Paul multiple times by sliding his feet and beating him to the spot. He drew a charge and just made the Point God uncomfortable.
He seems to read the game just like Nikola Jokic and always seems to be in the right spots to catch a cross-court pass or cut behind his defender. Despite only playing one season together, there’s clearly an on-court connection between the two of them.
Jeff Green seems to be able to directly replace the production lost from losing Paul Milsap to the Brooklyn Nets. Green seems to be more fluid than Milsap and was able to attack the rim and defend young and skilled wings such as Cameron Johnson and Mikal Bridges.
The pairing of him and JaMyachal Green gives the Nuggets two highly skilled, versatile forwards and wings to throw out there with Jokic. Also if Aaron Gordon isn’t playing well on a certain night, the Nuggets have two skilled forwards who can replace him.
Another massive bright spot was seeing Will Barton fully healthy and hitting big clutch shots to push the lead out of reach for the Suns. His length, ability to catch and shoot and put the ball on the floor allows him to be the perfect two-guard to pair with Nikola Jokic.
Nah’Shon ‘Bones’ Hyland needs to be taking close notes, as he could end up becoming a similar offensive weapon for the Nuggets in the near future.
Austin Rivers was the ideal replacement guard at the end of last season when Jamal went down. Before the season started, he recognized that this is his “last shot” to stick in the NBA and can’t underperform.
Playing Rivers makes their backcourt a bit undersized, especially when next to Campazzo. While Austin plays hard on the defensive side of the floor, he’s not a good enough on-ball defender to lock up the team’s best guard option, opening up holes.
He still made plays for his teammates during the opening game and showed an ability to put the ball on the floor and get into the teeth of the defense. He is a very capable floor spacer and knows how to play off the ball very well, let’s hope he can pick up in the following games.
Monte Morris looked lost on the defensive side of the floor multiple times. He got killed on screens and did not recover well.
His inability to fight over or under screens put the Nuggets in multiple bad defensive rotations, especially early in the first half allowing Devin Booker to heat up. Denver Nuggets fans know too well how quickly a game can get out of hand if Booker heats up.
While Monte is still a capable scorer, he needs to develop quickly as a defender, or the Nuggets might be forced to look for moves to get a better defensive guard to play with Murray when he comes back.
Aaron Gordon made a lot of great plays from his athleticism on the defensive side of the floor. He had an impressive chase-down block late in the game that seemed to put a halt on the Phoenix Suns’ momentum.
However, he still has no mid-post-game and looks uncomfortable when the defenders beat him to the spot and do not allow him to get to the rim. His ball-handling skills still haven’t made the leap he needs to routinely attack the basket and turn the corner on defenders, especially in the half-court.
Another major point of influence has to be the inability of the team to box out. There were too many instances where the team wanted to get a full-court dime from Jokic rather than boxing out and securing the rebound. They still ended up leading in second-chance points (13-11) and rebounds (46-45) however this will not last against bigger teams. The Nuggets will likely have one of the most undersized backcourts going forward and the wings and forwards need to work on securing the boards.
Nikola Jokic looks like he has taken another leap following his MVP season.
This past season, his stamina and agility improved and now he looks slimmer and even more agile. There were multiple instances in which he beat the young center Deandre Ayton who is known for his ability to be a rim running big man.
He is still a highly-skilled scorer out of the post with an ability to hit circus-level shots. He was an efficient 13/22 from the field and was a perfect 3/3 from the midrange. He dominated Ayton in the mid-post and used his post moves to manipulate him however he wanted to.
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— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) October 21, 2021
Whether he is used as a screener or ball-handler, Jokic will again be required to continue to control the offense with the Jamal Murray injury. He will be responsible for controlling and manipulating the tempo of the entire offense while his ability to find teammates open in the half-court is elite.
Jokic is looking quicker than ever and more nimble than he did last year, while he still isn’t exploding his ability to be one step ahead of the defense mentally allows him to always be in the right spot. He seems to seal defenders when running in the full court, much like how Chris Paul does baiting defenders into fouls and beating players down the court.
Ayton always seemed to be two steps behind Jokic as he pushed the ball up the court and generated easy looks for himself at the rim.
If the MVP is still improving, the league needs to watch out.