The Denver Nuggets' best three-point shooter, Cam Johnson, hit his first shot from beyond the arc in the first quarter against the Thunder on Thursday. Unfortunately, it was his only three-point attempt of the night, as he left the game with a right ankle sprain after playing only 11 minutes. When the final buzzer sounded, Aaron Gordon had made the most threes for the Nuggets.
He shot 3-of-4 from deep and finished with 20 points in 29 minutes. As important as it is for Denver's offense to have Gordon as a three-point threat, which he has been since 2024-25, when he shot 43.6 percent from three, he can't be the Nuggets' top three-point shooter.
If Johnson had stayed in the game, he would've taken more three-point shots than Gordon, and, more importantly, the spacing wouldn't have been so abysmal without him. But Cam played just 54 games last season, missing several weeks with a knee injury, and now that he's dealing with an ankle injury, Denver has to be able to turn to more players than Gordon.
Aaron Gordon's three-point shooting is a plus, but Nuggets can't rely on it
Denver shot 8-of-30 from three (26.7 percent) in the loss to Oklahoma City, which shot 11-of-43 from deep (25.6 percent), so it was an issue on both sides, but the Thunder still attempted 13 more threes than the Nuggets.
Nikola Jokić shot 1-of-7 from deep; while he can knock down threes, he's no threat. Jamal Murray, who averaged 7.5 threes per game and hit 43.5 percent last season, took just one shot and missed. Christian Braun was 1-of-6. Trevon Brazile was 0-of-4.
Not that you needed the reminder, but yes, it was ugly, especially in the second half. The Nuggets didn't lose because they couldn't hit a three (though that would've helped!), but the offense will suffer without Johnson. Considering his role, that's expected to an extent, but it can't be that bad.
Nuggets need better spacing
Gordon's three-point shooting is supposed to be a weapon for Denver, and it has been, but he can't be the only one knocking down outside shots. It didn't help that the Nuggets faced the Thunder, one of the league's best defenses. When Johnson left, it was essentially game over.
You'd like to think that Braun won't carry over his poor three-point shooting from last season, when he shot 30.1 percent from deep, and that he will look more like he did in 2023-24, when he shot 39 percent, but the Nuggets can't bank on that.
What they should be able to rely on is Murray getting up more three-point attempts, but without Johnson (and Julian Strawther), Denver's outside shooting takes a significant hit. Jokić can find his teammates open on the perimeter (even when he's not looking at them), but they still need to knock down those looks, more often than not.
Gordon continuing his trend of being an outside shooter is important, but it can't be that important for Denver. Not unless the Nuggets are interested in winning a championship.
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