If it weren't for the hustle and fire of Cameron Johnson, the Denver Nuggets could have slipped and fallen to the Memphis Grizzlies. But Johnson showed out, and he's going to have to be the Nuggets' primary third option in the offense moving forward.
The Nuggets held on to win 123-118 after Johnson made a key chase-down of a loose ball to retain possession, gathered himself, and then received a perfect pass from Aaron Gordon for a layup to put the Nuggets back up by four with 2 minutes to go. It was that same grit that was with Johnson all night as he had his best game of the season.
The Nuggets need to get Cam more involved in every game
Johnson finished the game with 23 points on 9-for-15 shooting, including his typical sniper-like 4-for-7 from deep. But beyond the three-point game, Johnson can get downhill well and does a great job of moving without the ball.
He's always finding space and putting himself in the right spot for Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic to find him, and he's the best spacer on the team. Which is important given the Nuggets' need for three-point shooting this year. Johnson's now at 43.2% on 5.3 attempts from deep, and it would be nice to see him shoot seven or eight per game.
It's also key for Johnson to keep picking up the slack as Gordon works his way through whatever it is that has him in a slump. Gordon is no longer capable of being the third option in the Nuggets' offense as long as he's shooting a terrible 25.6% from three and 38.0% from the field. He's gained the grace of getting some slack, but he needs to figure out what's causing the funk to start the year.
Johnson just needs to more consistent
The Nuggets turned down trade offers this offseason and chose him over Peyton Watson. That looks like a good choice to start the year, with Watson playing poorly offensively with the Cleveland Cavaliers. However, Johnson was off to a slow, inconsistent start himself before the explosion against the Grizzlies.
The 23 points did bring Johnson's season average up to 12.1 points per game, which is on pace with his 12.2 from last year. But they really need him to have more games where he's closer to 18 to 20 points to pick up the slack from Gordon's lack of production. And if Cam can do that, he'll surely be the third option in the lineup.
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