By Daniel Paiz

The NBA playoffs are seven games each series because nearly everything that can happen usually does. For the Nuggets, bad shooting & bad defense creates perfect storm as Denver loses Game 2 149-106, and the series is now tied 1-1. Game 3 is scheduled for Friday but this time in Denver.

Nikola Jokic had a pretty subpar night with 17 points, eight rebounds, six assists, and he fouled out in the third quarter with six fouls. Jokic was disrupted often in the paint, and the whistle just didn’t go his way in Game 2. Russell Westbrook provided another spark off the bench with 19 points and five assists. Westbrook and Peyton Watson were the few highlights of the second half for Denver. The Nuggets didn’t recover from the initial onslaught from OKC, but luckily this game only counts as one for OKC.

Key Issues from Game 2

• Shooting woes

15 of 22 in the first quarter, 16 of 31 in the second quarter for OKC when it comes to their field goal shooting in the first half. That’s about 59 percent from the field for the first half and why OKC scored 87 points by halftime. Denver couldn’t hit shots, and as the Thunder kept hitting, it just created a vicious cycle. It didn’t help the Nuggets had 21 turnovers tonight, that truly buried them.

Nobody is going to normally hit that many shots in a game. So, while Denver’s poor shooting and bad defense added to the gap, even a good shooting night would’ve led to a loss. The shooting has to be better, as does the defense.

• Defense

That many shots falling down is unlikely, but when a lot of them are either high percentage in the paint shots or open looks, that’s not going to help your cause. The defense seemed out of sorts, and Denver didn’t really have a plan to adjust. There has to be renewed effort and movement in Game 3. To be fair, the foul calls tonight weren’t the best; Jokic’s fifth and sixth foul calls were bad calls. When the defender essentially undercut Jokic causing him to fall down, that should’ve been a defensive call. Inconsistency from the refs certainly didn’t help, but Denver’s defense was the primary concern here.

Keys to Game 3

Denver has to come out with the same energy and intention as they did in Game 1. OKC threw several punches first and Denver didn’t adjust to handle the barrage of made shots. Granted, hitting shots at nearly a 60 percent clip for the first half really doesn’t happen, so Denver has to also cautiously forget aspects of Game 2.

The ball movement has to be better, the defensive effort has to improve, and there has to be more physical play. It can be tough to play physical when the whistle is inconsistent, but the focus has to be on disrupting the opponent’s offense. SGA had a big night with 34 points, but there were six OKC players with double digits in scoring. That can’t happen again. This series was always going to be a tough one.

Game 3 is the time for Denver to use home court advantage and remind themselves that they are still very much in this series.

Bonus Content

Mile High Recap with Plumas Poetic episode 9 for this second round follows right below!