Denver was having another good regular season when suddenly they just couldn’t guard anyone. They were the second worst defensive team in the league during the second half of the season, and despite their head coach calling out the team several times, they still couldn’t defend at all.
In the first round of the playoffs against Utah, the Nuggets allowed 125, 124, 124 and 129 points in the first four games of the series while putting themselves in a 1-3 hole just to bounce back and defeat Utah in seven games. They did the same against the LA Clippers in the following round in one of the weirdest series ever with an incredible choke job by the LA team.
In the Western Conference finals, it seems like Denver just ran out of gas. The Lakers were extremely physical with Nikola Jokic and Denver was clearly unable to guard Lebron James, who dominated the series.
Michael Porter Jr didn’t get many minutes in the early part of the season, but because the Nuggets were piling up injuries at the forward position, he got more opportunities to play during the bubble. However, it was tough for coach Malone to demand more defensive effort from his players while he was giving more minutes to Porter Jr, who struggled big time on defense.
In the 8 games he started before the playoffs, Porter Jr averaged 21.6 ppg while shooting an incredible 57.4% FG and 41.7% 3pts. He might be the key that was missing for the Nuggets to form a legitimate big three with Jokic and Murray, but Coach Malone will have to find a way to solve the defensive problems that his team is going to have this season.
Denver decided not to invest in the free agency and so, they lost Plumlee and Grant. This will cause problems in the frontcourt, especially on defense, an area where the team already struggled last season. JaMychal Green will be Paul Millsap’s backup this season but all the players who will backup Jokic at the Center position are very inexperienced.
Michael Porter Jr will be the team’s full time starter at the small forward position and his development on the defensive end will be essential for the team to continue to be elite in the Western conference.
In a conference where Denver will likely have to battle against Lebron, Kawhi and Doncic to win the West, the Nuggets will have to find a way to stay competitive on defense against these players.