Finals Film Study: Nuggets' defense puts them one win away from a championship
Jamal Murray and the Nuggets have made a strength what once was a glaring weakness.
On the first possession of the fourth quarter of Game 2 of the NBA finals, the Denver Nuggets played good defense for about 19 seconds. But Jamal Murray was a little overzealous with a close-out and Duncan Robinson stepped into an open 3-pointer.
With a little less than four minutes left in the fourth quarter of Game 4, Murray was in a similar position after sinking deep in the paint to tag Bam Adebayo’s roll to the rim. But instead of flying by Caleb Martin, he was able to stay close to the ground and recover back to contest Martin’s side-step 3-point attempt…
The Nuggets’ defense was not good in Game 2, and their abundant breakdowns led to the Miami Heat’s second most efficient offensive performance of their 24 Play-In or playoff games.
But Denver’s three wins in this series have been the Heat’s three least efficient offensive performances of the postseason. And the Finals have been just the second time all season that the Nuggets have allowed fewer than 105 points per 100 possessions in three out of four games. The previous time was a four-game homestand (and the start of the Nuggets’ longest winning streak of the season), while this one has included two games on the road.
Murray’s controlled close-out was just one example of how the Nuggets were on point defensively in Game 4. Here’s some more film from a defensive performance that has Denver just one more win from its first NBA championship…
1. The best offensive player in the world plays defense too
Nikola Jokic is a two-time Kia MVP because he does it all offensively. But to get to this point, the Nuggets have needed him to play well on the other end of the floor too. Game 4, in which he and Murray combined to shoot just 13-for-36 from the field, was a great time for him to have a great defensive performance.
As noted after the game, Jokic had seven deflections (three more than any other player) on Friday. But his defensive success was as much about his feet as it was his hands.
It was also about his savvy. Late in the first quarter, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope gambled on a cross-court pass, giving Gabe Vincent a lane to the basket. Jokic was there to help, but there was nobody to help him with Bam Adebayo should he step in front of Vincent’s drive.
Fortunately, he’s a big dude with long arms and great instincts. And he was able to deter a drop-off pass with his right arm before stripping Vincent with his left, what went into the box score as his first of three blocks.
Jokic obviously isn’t the quickest defender, but he’s been asked to defend pick-and-rolls two different ways. When his man sets a screen for Jimmy Butler, Jokic is in “drop” coverage, focused on stopping the drive. When his man sets a screen for a shooter, Jokic is at the level of the screen, preventing a comfortable, pull-up 3.
Midway through the first quarter, Jokic played both coverages on the same possession, stopping a Butler drive in drop coverage, recovering back to Adebayo, preventing a Max Strus 3 in at-the-level coverage, and then recovering back to Adebayo to force a tough, turnaround jumper with just four seconds left on the shot clock.
Game 4 was just the fourth time in his career (663 total games) that Jokic had (at least) three blocks and three steals. But he had other big defensive plays too. Late in the third quarter, Bruce Brown got beat back door by Cody Martin. But Jokic, who was guarding another pick-and-roll at the time, saw the cut in his peripheral vision, slid over, and forced Martin into a turnover.
Jokic isn’t Hakeem Olajuwon on that end of the floor, but he’s executing the game plan and not making mistakes.
2. On high alert
Jokic wasn’t the only vigilant Nugget when a teammate needed help in Game 4. Caldwell-Pope had a steal in the first quarter, when he switched a back
screen and then helped Brown, who had been sealed on the high side of the screen by Strus.
And the Nuggets’ biggest stop of the night was probably with a little more then seven minutes left in the fourth quarter. Jokic was on the bench with five fouls and Denver’s lead was just six, with the Heat having scored on their last three possessions. The Nuggets had some switch confusion, with both Brown and Jeff Green guarding Butler as Martin cut back door.
Aaron Gordon was on the other side of the lane with Adebayo, but he saw both his man and the ball, and he was able to get to the rim as Martin caught Kyle Lowry’s pass. Martin shoveled the ball to Adebayo, who missed a floater over Green.
That’s not a terrible shot for the Heat, and it’s probably one that Adebayo wishes he had over. But for the Nuggets, it’s a much better shot than a layup from Martin, which Gordon was able to prevent by being alert (and big).
No defense is ever going to have a perfect game, but the best ones clean up any mistakes quickly. And when one Nugget got beat in Game 4, there was often another to put out the fire.
3. Seamless switching
Switch confusion (and/or miscommunication) was one of the Nuggets’ big issues in that Game 2 loss. And while Green and Brown were guarding the same guy on the play above, Denver’s switching has generally been much better over the last two games. There was a great example of that early in the second quarter on Friday.
Out of a “horns” set-up, Duncan Robinson curled around Butler and then set a ball-screen for Lowry, flipping the screen at the very last second. But Christian Braun (guarding Robinson) wasn’t fooled, and he was right there to switch onto Lowry, stopping his drive to the basket.
When Lowry threw a skip pass to Cody Zeller on the right side of the floor, Murray was trailing Robinson a bit. But Gordon was right there to switch out onto the shooter and Murray was able to stay with Zeller’s roll, forcing the Heat to reset their offense with less than 10 seconds left on the shot clock…
That possession ultimately turned into a missed Butler 3 at the shot-clock buzzer. Braun’s quick feet and reactions were on display again early in the fourth quarter, when Robinson couldn’t shake him and he deflected an Adebayo pass (before Adebayo then smothered a Murray fast-break).
4. Screen navigation
There are a lot of players in this league that will allow themselves to get taken out by a screen or just give up a switch rather than working to stay with their defensive assignment. Bruce Brown is not one of those players…
Sometimes, you have to trail a screen for a shooter. But you can still make an effort to affect an ensuing shot from behind. Green has had some rough defensive moments in this series, but early in the fourth quarter, he switched onto Robinson, trailed him around a hand-off, and forced him into an off-balance 3 with a good contest from the rear…
5. One on one
Sometimes, it’s just about staying in front of the guy with the ball. Late in the third quarter, Brown closed out to Martin, stayed with him as he drove across the floor, and just hounded him until he missed a tough shot from behind the backboard…
The Nuggets were not a great defensive team this season, but they didn’t have to be, because their offense is nearly unstoppable.
Still, there’s a difference in the level of defense you need to play at to win in the regular season and the level you need to play at in the Finals. The Nuggets have hit that level, playing hard, playing together and being vigilant. If they do that for one more game, they will be NBA champions.
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John Schuhmann is a senior stats analyst for NBA.com. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on Twitter.
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