By Daniel Paiz

The first quarter went pretty well as the Nuggets had a five-point lead. OKC adjusted, Denver didn’t so much, and in the third quarter it appeared fatigue won again. A strong first quarter fizzles as Nuggets can’t respond, losing Game 7 on the road. Overall, the team effort wasn’t there after halftime. Almost feels like they used everything up in Game 6.

Nikola Jokic had 20 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists. Christian Braun had 19 points, mostly coming in the first half as he had foul trouble in the second half. Jamal Murray seemed to still be dealing with illness as he had a pedestrian 13 points and three steals. Aaron Gordon fought through his hamstring issue and grabbed 11 rebounds and scored eight points; kind of the opposite of Michael Porter Jr.’s lackluster six points. Russell Westbrook also had six points, and the rest of the bench didn’t really score until garbage time.

Denver’s season is over and there are some questions that need to be answered.

Game 7 Recap

First Quarter

Aggressive, intentional movement inside the paint has the Nuggets starting with an 8-4 lead. Braun has scored two buckets, Jokic a layup, and Porter Jr. grabs a board and puts it back in with 9:44 left. This kind of effort is exactly what’s needed to start this game. As Denver continues to mostly hit shots, OKC continues to miss them. Nuggets are grabbing boards and mostly not allowing second chances, as Denver leads 21-10 with 4:37 to go. That lack of scoring from OKC gets slightly solved, as bench players start hitting and the Nuggets have a tight 26-21 lead after one; Braun has nine points so far.

Second Quarter

Rough start to the second has Denver trailing 27-26 after consecutive OKC buckets. With over seven minutes left, Denver has regained composure; a Jokic bucket plus and-one free throw ties things up at 32. A 39-40 deficit continues to show this one has slowed down due to solid defense very few good shots from either team with just four minutes left. Denver’s missed shots and OKC’s makes have turned the tide to a 60-46 Thunder lead at the half. Missed shots and allowing OKC’s defense to cause turnovers (some of which were uncalled fouls) have led to this.

Third Quarter

Denver has gotten stagnant on offense and hasn’t had much luck defensively in this third frame. OKC’s bench is outscoring Denver’s 23-6 with just about two minutes left in the third. That lead expands as 5 OKC players are in double digits, four of them being starters. Denver trails 97-72 going into the fourth.

Fourth Quarter

Denver seems timid as this second half moves forward, partially because shots are not falling and partially because of foul calls not being the called on both sides of the floor. The defense needs to get more stops, and then there needs to be some scoring conversions. Right now, Denver is taking difficult shots, essentially helping OKC out. 106-74 with 9:36 is a big deficit, but anything is possible. Apparently, Nuggets coach David Adelman doesn’t believe that, as with about nine minutes to go he put in all bench players. Frankly the rest of the game didn’t have much change. Denver falls short 125-93, season over.

Offseason Goals

• Find A BENCH!

There were times when Westbrook and Peyton Watson had some good moments this season, and had a few moments in these playoffs. However, there have to be more guys played and there have to be more guys added to the bench. If that means trading away some of these second- and third-year guys, then so be it.

Hunter Tyson, Zeke Nnaji, Jalen Pickett, Dario Saric, and Vlatko Cancar all need to be additional trade pieces with Michael Porter Jr. to another team. While battling through the shoulder injury is understandable, MPJ had plenty of under ten point-scoring games; that’s not acceptable for a guy who was drafted to be a scorer. It’s hard to say who would take his massive contract, but his minutes should either go to Julian Strawther and Watson, or a player that he’s traded for.

• New Offensive & Defensive Schemes

This goes together with getting a bench and shifting the starting lineup, because both sides of the ball were determined by who was on the floor. Driving inside the paint and kicking the ball out to shooters doesn’t work when shots aren’t falling. The league trend might be to win by hitting as many threes as possible, but everything is a pendulum.

Things will shift away from this kind of scoring, and for Denver, two points is better than zero. Attacking the paint and hitting shots from midrange could be one path. Another would be getting consistent three-point shooting in the playoffs, as there were times things just didn’t fall. Better ball movement would help avoid double teams on Jokic. Turnovers have to be reduced too, as Denver had 22 in Game 7.

Defensively, better rotational defense needs to be a focus, and different zones need to be implemented. There were times when an extra pass doomed Denver to an open shot from the opponent. There has to be better floor awareness and attention to where the opponent is on the floor. Rotations likely improve with a deeper bench.

Denver has a lot to figure out in the summer, but hopefully they do what’s best to maximize this prime era of Nikola Jokic.

Bonus Content

Final Mile High Recap with Plumas Poetic is below.