Now when it comes to this season's championship teams, most people will nominate the Nets and Lakers for the first time, some people will remind everyone not to forget the Clippers, 76ers and Bucks, and some people feel that the Jazz and the Suns cannot be underestimated. The Nuggets have played against these teams this season, and except for the Nets, other teams have suffered defeats in front of the Nuggets.
The arrival of Aaron Gordon seems to have made up for the Nuggets' biggest shortcomings and allowed the team to sublimate. In the last 16 games, the Nuggets have won 13 and lost 3, and the record has been equaled by the Lakers. While Jokic stepped on the MVP podium with one foot, the Nuggets have also made great strides into the championship team. There is no doubt that since joining the NBA in 1976, this season's Nuggets are the strongest nuggets in history.
The Nuggets at the beginning of this season are not like this at all. They started with two consecutive defeats, with only 1 win and 4 losses in their first 5 games. This is one hundred and eighteen thousand miles as people expected before the season began. In the 2020 playoffs, the Nuggets achieved an earth-shattering reversal in the desperate situation of 1-3 behind in two consecutive rounds and advanced to the Western Conference Finals, but if they undergo such baptism, the whole team will be like a changed person, and the good results of the new season are predictable. Unfortunately, 3 of the 4 teams that reached the division finals last season pulled their crotches at the beginning of the season.
As the season progressed, the gap created by the Nuggets flank after the successive losses of Craig and Geralmi Grant became more and more apparent. At one point, when predicting the outcome of the Nuggets' next game, the industry first looked at the strength of the opposing wing. But for teams with abundant flanks, the Nuggets struggled to cope with them. Last season, the Nuggets were a team that was heavy on offense and light on offense, ranking fifth in offensive efficiency and mid-range defensive efficiency (16th). This season, the Nuggets "intensified", the offensive efficiency continued to improve, and the ranking of defensive efficiency also fell one place.
However, changes on the defensive end are also in the works. If you look at the data after the All-Star weekend, you will find that the Nuggets' defensive efficiency is almost the same as the performance of the whole season, and the ranking even fell to 20 places away; but narrowing the range to nearly 15 games, the Nuggets' defensive efficiency (111.6) has returned to the middle (tied for 15th). Narrowing the scope to the three games in which Gordon is on the bench, the Nuggets' defensive efficiency (104.3) can even rank 7th in the league, and even the Knicks, who were once at the top of the league's defensive efficiency at the beginning of the season, have been left behind by the Nuggets.
Compared with defense, the Nuggets' performance on the offensive end is undoubtedly more gratifying. After the All-Star Weekend, the Nuggets' offensive efficiency (117.4) has soared to the third place in the league; the offensive efficiency in the last 15 games has reached 118.6, the second in the league, and Gordon continued to maintain this performance after the war. It can be said that the Nuggets are now a strong team with both attack and defense. According to past experience, a team that is balanced to this point can dream of winning the championship.
Gordon's arrival had an immediate effect. He has outstanding athleticism, moves quickly, and is tall enough, not afraid of confrontation, and can be assigned to play against the opposing side of the ace, effectively filling a major hole in the Nuggets' defense this season. In addition, the Nuggets are one of the slowest-paced teams in the league this season (averaging 96.7 rounds per game, the league's second-to-last), and they are also accustomed to dragging opponents into position battles. At the same time, the Nuggets resolutely adopted the strategy of shrinking the basket and forcing the opponent to solve the problem with shooting. If the opponent falls into the trap, the Nuggets also have outstanding height (the average height of the first starter is 2.02 meters) and change defenses to cope with them.
The Nuggets' percentage of shots from within 3 feet of the basket (21.9 percent) this season was the sixth-fewest in the league, but limiting opponents' shooting percentage in the area (74.9 percent) was the league's worst. In stark contrast, in other areas, the Nuggets limit the proportion of opponents' shots, which is basically the downstream level of the league, but limits the opponent's shooting rate in these areas, but it can rank in the top 10 of the league. The Nuggets' defense summed up: you don't come on the inside, you don't allow it on the outside.
On the offensive end, Gordon's presence gives Jokic an additional reliable passing point, and also allows the Nuggets to be coordinated by Jokic at a high position, and the two wings frequently cut in and break through the strategy of attacking the opponent's basket to better operate. Michael Porter Jr. has improved significantly this season, averaging 16.6 points and 7.4 rebounds per game, shooting 53.6 percent from the field and averaging 5.5 three-pointers per game, shooting 45 percent from the field. He and Gordon, one shot and one sudden, one attack and one defense, can be described as complementary.
The US media also recently posted data: after Gordon joined the team, the Nuggets won 3 consecutive wins. In all of the league's five-man group that played no less than 25 minutes at the same time, the Nuggets' starting five (Jokic, Gordon, Potter Jr., Barton and Murray) reached a net efficiency value of +38, topping the league.
Nowadays, the Nuggets often play mercury and make a lot of noise. Almost the whole team is infected with the "problem" of loving passing, almost any two people can play together, and both have the ability to finish, and the game is very watchable. Many people have begun to compare this Nuggets with the Spurs that played team basketball to the extreme in 2014, and it is no wonder that Duncan, in an interview before, also said that he loves to watch the Nuggets game the most.
The Nuggets' surge has also made MVP more accessible to Jokic. At the beginning of this season, Jokic swept away the decadence of the beginning of last season, and it was his outstanding performance that carried the Nuggets and created the conditions for today's counterattack. Since then, Jokic has become a regular on the MVP list TOP3. In addition, according to statistics, he has led the team in 14 games this season in terms of points, rebounds and assists, and is also the first in the league, followed by Alphabet Brother (12 games) and Doncic (11 games).
If you become a Jokic fan this season, you will be influenced by him to become a high-level data pass in the NBA. Today, Jokic ranks first in the league in terms of efficiency, offensive victory contribution, victory contribution, win-per-48 minutes contribution, true plus-minus, true plus-minus, and player irreplaceable (VORP). Jokic, who was selected with the 41st pick in the second round in 2014, is also expected to become the lowest draft pick in NBA history.
Of course, the nuggets' hidden worries are still there. Who will attack them at key playoff moments? Can Murray, who has gone to the next level this season, still be as brave as the 2020 playoffs? In addition, in the previous playoffs, the team based on the pass is also sad and happy, and today's Nuggets are more inclined to the "Hampton Five" Warriors, or the "Princeton" Kings and Nash-led Suns?
In short, don't be surprised if the Nuggets represent the West End on the stage of the Finals. (Supine Braces/Hairy)