The Nuggets made up for their loss on Friday night by going down to San Antonio and pulling out a tough, overtime win over the Spurs 122-111. Two games in two nights against the same opponent gave this miniseries a little extra juice. By the end of night two, these teams knew each other pretty well and it was starting to feel like a playoff series.
And in watching the team play playoff-style basketball, something has become apparent; Peyton Watson is this team’s X-factor. Watson has had an up-and-down season, but his defense has been consistently outstanding as he’s been tasked with guarding some of the league’s best players.
When Kentavious Caldwell-Pope left in the offseason, the Nuggets knew people were going to have to step up and the team would need a new stopper on the defensive end. They envisioned Christian Braun stepping into that role, and he had a nice start to the season, but he’s clearly not that lockdown defender at this stage of his career.
Watson, on the other hand, may be up to that task. He was one of the primary defenders Saturday night on Victor Wembanyama and did a very good job, bothering his face-up game and dribbling routinely.
But this wasn’t a one-off matchup situation, Watson has also guarded guys like Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, LeBron James, De’Aaron Fox, and others this season. Guards, wings, centers, it doesn’t matter. Watson can hold his own against all of them and has done an outstanding job.
Peyton Watson has guarded Kyrie, Luka, LeBron, Fox and Wemby. Made an impact on all of them and made a HUGE impact tonight.
— Adam Mares (@Adam_Mares) January 5, 2025
Nuggets chances hinge largely on their ability to get him ready by playoffs. He has to play more.
Watson must improve shooting to stay on the court in playoffs
But Watson’s fatal flaw is on the other end of the court and that’s the crux of the situation with him. The third-year player still doesn’t have a consistent offensive game and his jump shot hasn’t come along as quickly as the team hoped.
He’s an inconsistent and unreliable three-point shooter, even from the corners. It’s not a huge deal during the regular season, but in playoff games, and especially in crunch time, teams are going to start leaving Watson alone, doubling Jokic/Murray, and daring Watson to shoot wide-open shots.
He’s going to have to shoot them with confidence and he’s going to have to make a respectable amount. If he can’t do that, it’s going to be very difficult for Michael Malone to keep him on the court - no matter how impactful his defense is.
We see this happen every year; guys are played off the court in the playoffs due to specific weaknesses. But the Nuggets don’t have enough optionality on the roster for that. They need to commit to Watson and to making him the best offensive player he can be.
He can be a difference-maker in a playoff series, guarding the other team’s best player, but he has to make open shots or it won’t matter. It’s compounded by the fact that Denver’s roster has other non-shooters who play big minutes.
We’ve already seen teams give Russell Westbrook this treatment this season, and we’ve seen it with Aaron Gordon in the past. A team can maybe get away with one non-shooter on the court, but two is a killer. Watson needs to improve that jumper in short order.