The Denver Nuggets will go as far as Nikola Jokic takes them. That means he’s also the biggest target for opposing teams, which, as noted by Brian Windhorst of ESPN, has started recently to pay less focus on some Nuggets players in the perimeter in order to make life on the court tougher for the three-time NBA Most Valuable Player.
The struggles of Christian Braun and Russell Westbrook to hit consistently from the perimeter have also seemingly contributed to that strategy by Denver opponents. An unnamed scout even seemingly questioned the idea of having Westbrook spend ample minutes on the floor with Jokic.
The Nuggets lead the league in overall field goal shooting, driven by Jokic’s relentless efficiency and his ability to create for others, but they’re last in 3-point attempts because they don’t have enough quality shooters to take them.
“Westbrook is probably playing too many minutes,” one scout said of Westbrook’s 27.6 minutes-per-game average. “They want him to play next to Jokic as much as possible, but that doesn’t mean he should play starter minutes.”
Westbrook can still bring a lot to the table for the Nuggets, but his shooting has always been a big question mark for the 2017 NBA MVP.
So far in the 2024-25 NBA season, Westbrook is averaging 12.9 points, 6.1 assists and 4.9 rebounds per game while posting just a 52.2 effective field goal percentage and 33.5 3-point percentage. He is also just a career 30.6 percent shooter from behind the arc.
The Denver Nuggets are thriving despite lack of outside shooting
Even though the Nuggets are just 27th in the NBA with only 12.1 3-pointers per game, they remain one of the most efficient bunches in the league.
Only the Cleveland Cavaliers have a better offensive rating in the league than Denver, which is scoring 119.4 points per 100 possessions.
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