Nuggets continue to score at will, but defense remains question mark
Modern Denver Nuggets history seems to suggest an ethos: Try and outscore opponents without being great defensively, and let 41 home games in the thin air of the Rockies work to their advantage.
The last two seasons have crystallized that as Denver's morphed into a postseason contender. On Sunday, for instance, the Nuggets scored 130 points in a home beatdown of the Sacramento Kings, the fourth time they've done so since the calendar flipped to 2018.
The scoring binge coincides with their playoff push; since Feb. 1, the Nuggets are second in the NBA in offensive rating and seventh in pace. They've averaged 119.4 points in their last 10 games.
The flip side is that since Feb. 1, they are also 28th in league defensive rating.
Center Nikola Jokic is incredibly gifted offensively. He shot 8-for-10 on Sunday, and recorded his 13th career triple-double. His next one will tie Hakeem Olajuwon's career record for most triple-doubles by a player born outside the United States.
Unlike Olajuwon, however, Jokic is not a good defender. He can't guard the pick-and-roll, and the Nuggets don't have the personnel behind him or on the wings to adequately help.
Part of that is a trade-off. As talented as Jamal Murray and Gary Harris are, neither are good stoppers, in some measure, because they are slightly undersized. At 6-foot-4, Murray and Harris - while skilled scorers - aren't new-age prototypical NBA perimeter defenders. Switching is one thing, but at this game's speed, an inch or so in wingspan can make a difference.
Having veteran power forward Paul Millsap back should help, at least from a leadership perspective. "Trust me, we will get better on the defensive end," Millsap told the Denver Post's Gina Mizell upon his return.
On Sunday, they held the hapless Kings to 19 percent 3-point shooting, and coach Mike Malone said afterward that they sustained a strong defensive effort, according to Mile High Sports' T.J. McBride.
That must become the norm, however, for the Nuggets to return to the playoffs for the first time since 2013. They're smack dab in the dog fight for the three-through-eight seeds in the Western Conference, sitting percentage points behind the Clippers in ninth as of Sunday night.
They won't have as much of the home-altitude advantage down the stretch either. Ten of Denver's last 15 games come on the road, including visits to Philadelphia, Toronto, and Minnesota.