Denver Nuggets: 3 concerning stats early in the season

Denver Nuggets concerning stats: Turnovers are a major issue

In the 2020-21 season, the Denver Nuggets averaged 13.7 turnovers per 100 possessions, good for the 15th mark in the league. This season, the Nuggets are committing 16.7 turnovers per 100 possessions, the sixth-most in the NBA.

It’s partially due to personnel as the absence of Jamal Murray means Monte Morris, a floor general with an incredibly low turnover percentage, is now a starter while the bench has less secure ball handlers like Austin Rivers and Facundo Campazzo.

Nikola Jokic is having an uncharacteristically poor season when it comes to turnovers, turning it over 17.3 percent of the time per Cleaning the Glass, up from his career-high 12.4 percent the season prior.

Some of his turnovers are part and parcel with being Jokic, trying to pull of the unbelievable like in the above clip, there’s nothing the team or he can do about them.

But others are a product of the roster. Without Jamal and after MPJ sat with his back injury (even though his shot isn’t falling at the moment), the Joker is the one player all five players have to worry about stopping.

In this clip, Jokic tried to get a switch onto a smaller defender before Daniel Theis, the Rockets’ preferred defensive option, stuck with him. After spinning base, he’s faced with another big man, Christian Wood helping over and the three perimeter defenders more than happy to crowd in as they’re not too concerned with the 3-point shooters.

This will be less of an issue as the team gets healthier, but for the upcoming stretch of games, Jokic is going to be getting all the defensive attention and routine passes and post moves will get much more difficult – can the team withstand it? Is there someone on the roster to fix all these issues?