There's no easy way to say it. The Denver Nuggets' role players looked terrible on offense in their 110-100 loss to the Houston Rockets. Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray combined for 63 of the 100 points, while the rest of the team looked like they were sleepwalking on the court after travel woes kept them from leaving Mexico City on time the day before. And one of the biggest problems was DeMar DeRozan, who continues to disappoint in his role as the Nuggets' sixth man and "scoring boost" off the bench.
DeRozan shot just 2-for-8 from the field, and he was constantly clogging up the spacing inside the perimeter and unable to create separation from his defender. He finished with just 7 points, which led the bench. Bleh.
It was a bad night for everyone but the two big stars. But the problems with DeRozan keep bleeding into the flow of the offense, and the Nuggets are now just 5-4 on the season. Head coach David Adelman has got to adjust how he uses DeRozan from here on out.
DeRozan can't figure out the spacing with Jokic
DeRozan's plus/minus was -16, and he's now at a -10.4 net rating differential per 100 possessions. And the sample is large. 191 minutes. The Nuggets' net rating differential without DeRozan on the court, over 246 minutes, is +9.5. Yes, the Nuggets are -19.9 points worse with DeRozan on the court per 100 possessions.
Even worse, with Jokic sharing the floor with DeRozan, the net rating differential is -11.5 over 110 minutes. The Nuggets' offense slows down to a screeching halt, at just a 105.7 rating. This was the number one offense in the league last season, at 121.2. That's nearly 16 points worse.
Sure, it's not all DeRozan's fault. Aaron Gordon hasn't looked like himself, and Christian Braun and Cameron Johnson have been up and down. But when you have DeRozan dribbling into the elbow while Jokic is standing on the nail, drawing a double team, it's not going to work out well.
DeRozan's also not a three-point shooter, so sticking him in the corner doesn't work too well either. DeRozan's only move from there is a clanker three or a driving attack into the paint that everyone on defense sees coming. They can get over to help, resulting in another contested shot.
Again, everyone except Jokic and Murray looked terrible on offense against the Rockets. But it's pretty hard to miss just how slow and defunct the spacing is on offense with DeRozan on the court.
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