The Nuggets Have No Defensive Answer for the Warriors

The Denver Nuggets enter Game 3 against the Golden State Warriors down 0-2 after two straight drubbings at Chase Center, losing by 36 combined points. 

To better put into context how dominant the Warriors’ offense has been, they have a 131.9 offensive rating according to Basketball Reference; the league leading Utah Jazz offense had a 116.2 offensive rating during the regular season. To say that Denver’s defense has been rough would be a drastic understatement.

The communication has been bad and at times, nonexistent. Overhelp has been rampant, as Golden State’s off-ball movement has put the Nuggets’ perimeter defense in a blender. Even while often employing two non-shooters together (Draymond Green and Kevon Looney), the mixture of screening and ball movement can be headache-inducing.

Golden State has pushed the pace in transition, forcing awkward cross matches because of the quickness with which they get down-court and get into early offense. It sounds minute, but it adds an extra edge and advantage that can be extrapolated upon when a team is as out of sync defensively as the Nuggets are at the moment.

Golden State has absolutely lit up Denver in early offense

The way they push the pace really exacerbates how out of sync that defense is right now.

Quick cross-match because of the pace? Sick, we'll take advantage pic.twitter.com/Y7mf5nPC59

— Mark Schindler (@MG_Schindler) April 20, 2022

The Warriors have clearly come out from the start game-planning to attack Denver in early offense. Intentionally forcing the Nuggets into mismatches with positioning and pace in early offense has allowed the Warriors to puppeteer the defense before there’s even five seconds off the shot clock.

I think that’s such an undersold aspect of what made the dynastic Warriors great. Yes they were one of the greatest spaced teams of all time, but the way they set themselves up into space, the quickness with which they shapeshift during possessions, and the guile with which they attack your weaknesses and use them against you stands out to me constantly. 

The movement and relocation is impressive, but again, the quickness and decisiveness in the decisions that all five players make is that extra oomph that sets the Warriors apart. This group is starting to find that, and that’s a terrifying notion for opposition.

Watch how many problems the Warriors make Denver solve in this singular possession.

The quickness is insane.

All 5 in the HC before 6 seconds are off the clock. First action from 30 feet out without a break in action.

Denver switches, and switches again on the exchange.

Get the initial stop with help off of Draymond, but Steph never stops moving pic.twitter.com/sa1w60gFR6

— Mark Schindler (@MG_Schindler) April 20, 2022

Again, Denver’s communication and positioning isn’t good. A team that’s in sync is calling out that corner pin-in and blowing that up before it can blow them up in turn. Yet, I’d also point out the struggles of Denver’s perimeter defenders. 

Outside Austin Rivers most of the time, pretty much every perimeter player is at Golden State’s mercy. Everyone is a step or two slower in both processing and actual foot speed. Even if this defense were better gelled, I question the viability of the personnel to stop this Warriors onslaught.

Aaron Gordon is a pretty good defender at his best, one of the most versatile in the game. This series has been a nightmare for him on either end, but it also brings up current roster constraints. 

Of course, Denver is down their second and third best players in Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr., which can’t be harped on enough. If the Nuggets’ offense were firing on any cylinders, the defense would probably be a bit better, as their offensive shortcomings have gone hand in hand with their defensive catastrophe.

The Nuggets have really lost the wing players that added lineup versatility and some perimeter flexibility over the past few seasons, one of my few gripes with their front office. They’ll need to rectify that in the off-season.

This series should not be an indictment of or statement that teams who regularly employ defenses showing two to the ball and playing at the level can’t function at a championship level; this Nuggets team was just in the Conference Finals two years ago!

Nikola Jokic hasn’t been tremendous defensively. His defense waned as the game got out of hand and he got T’d up and eventually tossed. So many times in this series (and this season), Jokic does his job and the defense breaks down because of secondary actions and ball-watching or inattentiveness from the off-ball defenders. They send two to the ball so often because they can’t get stops at the point of attack consistently without blitzing.

Jokic can stay solid, but he’s not typically a player who can erase teammates’ mistakes at the rim. Sure, players like Rudy Gobert and Giannis Antentokounmpo can consistently blow up 2 on 1 plays and protect the rim at a Defensive Player of the Year level. Even then, both of those defenses have gone through legitimate struggles because of their inability to get stops on the perimeter, regularly getting thrown into rotation.

This is the possession of the series so far

This is that "we are going to destroy you no matter what" offensive flow and fuckery that the title run squads had pic.twitter.com/VmN7cwqjrk

— Mark Schindler (@MG_Schindler) April 20, 2022

Nikola Jokic is not in the same realm of defender of those two, but the majority of the naysaying of who he is as defender tends to come from the ideology that there’s only one appropriate way to play defense. He hasn’t been awesome on either end this series, but he is far from the biggest problem with Denver’s defense.

If anything has become apparent this year, it’s the vastness of coverage versatility across the league. Offenses are ridiculously hard to stop. Defense is often reduced down to “get stops” and I think that’s a misunderstanding. Defense is so much more about process, elongating possessions and forcing tougher shots than the offense wants. A push-pull of efficiency and ease.

The Nuggets are likely in for a quick series, but the story here is the impressive play of the Warriors.

They appear ripe for a deep run and a matchup with some of the premier Western Conference teams in the coming month. The Warriors are just awesome and we need to appreciate that.