The Denver Nuggets are an offensive wagon, but their defense has been lacking this season. We've seen countless back-door dunks, open-wing threes from a lack of rotation, and they've just generally been poor overall, ranking 19th in scoring defense and 24th in defensive rating. But does that even matter if they're putting up 125+ points a night? Perhaps the Nuggets' best defense could actually be their high-powered offense.
Sure, it helps if you hold the other teams to a lower number, but what the Nuggets are doing on offense this season is spectacular. They're tops in the league in scoring at 120.4 points per game, which is actually 5 points lower than what they were scoring before the December 29th injury to Nikola Jokic. That's to be expected when one of the best players in the world sits out.
And they're shooting lights out, too. The Nuggets are the best three-point shooting team in the league, making 39.6% of their attempts, plus they're number two in overall shooting at 49.5%, and fifth in free-throw percentage, at 81%. Denver tops the league in true shooting percentage, 61.5%. Statistically, they are the best shooting team in the league.
Denver is doing this while ranking just 26th out of 30 in pace. If they decide to push the tempo as they did in the Chicago game, scoring 136 points, there aren't many teams that can keep up. Shooting plus pace equals a dangerous combination for any team to defend.
Slow starts have been plaguing the system
The Nuggets have had a problem this season with slow starts. They fall behind early in the first quarter and have to play catch-up for a large chunk of the game. This needs to flip. If the offense comes out and sets the tone and builds a small lead early, opposing teams start to take more ill-advised shots to get back in the game. That's exactly what we want to see.
This actually creates a little bit of pace. Then Denver comes right back down and hits a three. If Denver is making threes at a higher percentage than everyone else, they simply need to shoot more of them to win. Yes, I know it sounds basic, but they're so efficient on offense that a little bit more pace could crush opposing teams. It's a great spot to be in.
We've heard the saying before, "Your best defense is a good offense." For this Nuggets team, that rings especially true.