It was evident in the drubbing to start the second quarter of the latest Nuggets disaster loss, a 117-108 defeat at home to the Minnesota Timberwolves. And it's been evident just about every other time the Nuggets star duo, Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, exit the court. The strategy needs an adjustment, and Brian Windhorst suggested staggering the dynamic duo in order to stave off the disaster that's become the second unit that's opened the second and fourth quarters.
Windy mentioned the postgame comments by head coach David Adelman about the Nuggets' "long-standing strategy to not stagger Jamal Murray and Jokic’s minutes." And he highlighted the opening minutes of the second quarter as to why.
The Nuggets had a nine-point lead, and in two minutes and eight seconds, it was gone. Poof. "He's going to have to change his rotation," said Windhorst.
Jokic, Murray, sitting together. Watching another lead evaporate. Mentally, that has to be challenging, no matter how mentally tough you are. "They’re getting hurt when they’re off the court," Windhorst said.
How would the Nugges make a stagger work?
It's been a pattern. I've mentioned a few times that Jonas Valanciunas has become a hole on the defensive end. And as the Joker's lone backup, it puts the Nuggets in a tricky place trying to fill the void.
Making the stagger work is going to require some precision lineup engineering from Coach Adelman. The Nuggets should have an idea of whether or not Aaron Gordon and Peyton Watson will be back by the 20th game left in the season.
Adelman set that as a marker for getting the pair back onto the court. Tim MacMahon said of the pair, "With Gordon and Watson out, it's killing their defense, killing their depth."
Their additions back to the rotation will give Adelman extra flexibility for an added boost at both ends of the floor. Gordon's defense isn't the only thing that's been missed. He's been a boon offensively and in seasons past in the clutch for the Nuggets, an area where they just flat out stink lately. Denver's 1-6 in their last seven clutch games.
The Nuggets face an uphill battle
On top of the Nuggets' flaws, and there are many of them, they face the toughest remaining schedule in the league. They've slipped to the five seed in the West, potentially losing home-court advantage for even the first round of the playoffs. While not a disaster scenario, it's not ideal.
And their superstar, the best player in the world, the Joker, is playing with a hurt wrist. Not hurt enough to be on the injury report. But hurt enough to not be himself.
All the conditions are right for the Nuggets to experience turbulence like a plane ride over the Rockies down the stretch. At least our captain is the best in the world. We just need to hope he navigates around the rough patches a bit better than he has been.