By Daniel Paiz

Scrappy start leads to bad shooting and a 113-96 defeat as the Nuggets trail 2-1 in this best of seven series. Nikola Jokic had 27 points off of 26 shot attempts and 15 rebounds, Jamal Murray added 16 points. The Nuggets were without Aaron Gordon (calf) and Peyton Watson (hip) as Denver’s offense shot an abysmal 28% from the field for the entire night.

Ayo Dosunmu led the Wolves with 25 points and all five starters scored in double digits. Game 4 is scheduled for Saturday in Minnesota. Let’s take a look at this messy game.

What Went Right

The energy on defense initially made it a very contested game in the first quarter. Bench guys like Zeke Nnaji and backup-turned-starter for Game 3 made efforts on defense to try and slow down the home team. The Nuggets did what I said from the Game 2 review and attacked the rim, leading to 30-plus free throws. That was probably their best offensive performance remained, since there was no one guarding them at that point.

There was effort in general that felt like it was something the end of Game 2 didn’t really have. The bench also added some points, notably Nnaji with 10 points and Tim Hardaway Jr. with 11 points. Denver even finally played Julian Strawther as well, as he sometimes can get hot. He didn’t do so in this game.

Not a whole lot else to really highlight, unfortunately.

What Went Wrong

Where do I start? Talking heads and even Coach Adelman for Denver pointed to the inability to make shots as the primary offender. Not making shots is certainly a bad thing, but what’s worse is the hero ball approach this team took from beyond the arc. There are no 15-pointers, 10-pointers, etc., etc. A team does not get back into a game after a made three when down double-digit points. No, what went wrong was not altering the attack scheme.

Attacking the rim was a good start, but it’s almost as if Denver’s players didn’t know when to stop attacking and when to toss up some decent shots. Dribbling themselves nearly under the rim made what are usually higher percentage shots go the opposite way. Minnesota essentially gave Denver a hint of where open space was, and it was not under the rim. It was either beyond the arc, or there was some wiggle room in terms of midrange jumpers. The Nuggets didn’t seem interested in the midrange game very much.

A mantra that Coach Adelman and the rest of the coaches need to instill is this: two is better than zero, two is better than zero. Fewer three-point attempts in favor of midrange shots and baseline shots and different spots would’ve helped out the road team Thursday night. That’s a lesson that ideally translates for Game 4.

Game 4 Predictions

As usual, when things are looking bleak, the talking heads and the loud fans seem like doubting Thomases. That does the Nuggets no good here. Denver has to move the ball around and remember the age-old adage that the ball moves faster than the defense does. The more you move the opponent on defense, the more space you have. That’s the key battleground in this series.

Spacing the floor on defense will open up passing lanes and cutting lanes. Posting up the defense somewhere around the free-throw paint area will force defenders to commit, thus creating lanes again. Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray had double digits in Game 3, but at the cost of a lot of shots. Passing that ball around will level the playing field against Minnesota’s defense.

Speaking of defense, it’s time for some zone action. Whether it’s a 1-3-1 zone or a 3-2 zone, the Nuggets have to control spacing. Take away the paint, take away passing lanes, and you limit the offense’s space to move around. A lot of the Wolves’ scorers are guys who use spacing to their advantage, taking that away takes away their power. Minnesota has shown in these first three games they aren’t the best spot-up shooters; increasing the pressure to change that will change their momentum.

Denver needs to win Game 4, and they have to win the game of spacing to do so.

Bonus info

Here’s a nice little audio companion piece to the above words, where I dig into the battle of spacing a bit more.