The Nuggets buckled down in crunch time on Friday night and salvaged a 131-126 win over the Lakers in Ball Arena, but this game never should have been this close. The Lakers played the night before in Milwaukee and were missing LeBron James and Luka Doncic.
Beyond the superstars, the Lakers were also playing without their starting center Jaxson Hayes, and other key rotation players Rui Hachimura, Dorian Finney-Smith, and Gabe Vincent. And despite all that, LA was able to score 126 points and had this game tied in the final 10 seconds against a Denver team that was essentially at full strength.
So why was this game so close? In a word, defense. When the chips are down, the Nuggets struggle to get stops and this is an issue that constantly pops up against the best competition. The Lakers, without their stars, are not that, but still, Austin Reaves and Dalton Knecht were able to tear the Denver defense to shreds.
Christian Braun is not a lockdown defender
The issues for the Nuggets start with their perimeter defense. With Nikola Jokic playing most of the team’s minutes at center, they are never going to have an elite rim protector. But they’ve been able to build a respectable defense around him over the years by using his size, hands, and smarts, and employing elite stoppers around him.
Overall, letting Kentavious Caldwell-Pope walk in free agency has looked like a great move. He has deteriorated on offense and Christian Braun has been an excellent addition to Denver’s starting lineup and one of the most improved players in the NBA.
But what the Nuggets lost with KCP shows up on the defensive end and it’s not talked about enough. When they won it all in 2023, Caldwell-Pope was an elite perimeter defender who could hold his own against the best offensive players in the world. They also had reliable veteran defenders like Bruce Brown and Jeff Green on the bench.
The guys who replaced them just haven’t been good enough and that starts with Braun. He is a fine defensive player, but he’s overtasked in his current role. It’s not Braun’s fault as much as it’s a roster construction issue. Due to personnel, Braun is constantly forced to guard elite players and he’s simply not up to it.
Nuggets’ defensive options aren’t good enough
Murray and MPJ aren’t good enough defenders to lock down guys either and this is resulting in teams cracking Denver off the dribble over and over again. They could - and probably should - turn to Peyton Watson more, but Michael Malone still doesn’t seem to fully trust him in big spots, mostly due to his offense.
Russell Westbrook has arguably been the team’s best on-ball perimeter defender this season and can hold his own against most guards and smaller wings one-on-one, but he has his own well-documented playoff issues.
Some of it is effort, but even at their best, the Nuggets have major issues on the defensive end. It shows up when they play the elite teams and it’s going to be a major problem in the playoffs.
The margins just aren’t there anymore for Denver. They are going to have to play nearly perfect basketball to win playoff games. They aren’t going to have answers for elite offenses, so their best answer will likely be to outscore teams and play even better offense.