Nikola Jokic has spent enough time terrorizing defenses to know they’re going to keep trying new answers. The latest wrinkle is the Alex Caruso style, a fronting approach that has been showing up more often since the Oklahoma City Thunder introduced it and that the Utah Jazz also used against Jokic in preseason.
The idea is simple enough, even if surviving it is not: send a physical guard to front Jokic in the post, bother him before Denver can get into its offense, and force the Nuggets into a slower, more crowded setup. That pressure effectively turns into a double-team, and it takes a bite out of the two-man game Jokic shares with Jamal Murray.
That doesn’t mean Jokic is going to be stumped for long. His basketball IQ is too high for that, and the Nuggets have answers around him.
Aaron Gordon looks ready to be one of them. He already resembles the AG who opened last season on a tear, and he just went after the Jazz for 18 points in 15 minutes.
Part of that came from the defense being so focused on Jokic that Gordon found more room to work. He’s made 50% of his threes through the first two games, and that extra breathing room in the paint has helped him get easier looks there, too, which is why he’s shooting 70% from the field.
Cameron Johnson is giving Denver another useful release valve. The Nuggets are already looking smart for keeping him instead of Peyton Watson, and Johnson has started by hitting 44.4% of his threes. He looks comfortable in his role, ready to catch and shoot without hesitation when the ball swings his way.
Christian Braun is the other piece that could make this defense a lot less appealing. He’s only 1-of-5 from deep so far, but his burst is back, and that matters because he’s a cutting threat again. If the three-point shot starts falling the way Denver wants, the fronting guard can’t just drift off Braun and clog up the rest of the floor.
Even when opponents load up on Jokic, they still have to deal with the fact that he led the league in assists last year. He’ll find open teammates.
That’s what he does. The real question is whether the Nuggets’ supporting cast keeps making defenses pay for the gamble.
If they do, the Caruso-style look turns into just another problem Jokic and Denver solve on the fly.
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Cam Johnson Is Already Making The Nuggets Feel Better About That Bet
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The Nuggets clearly viewed Johnson as a player worth betting on for consistent production, even with the market around him drawing interest. Rather than treat him like a movable piece, Denver chose to make the financial fit work and leave open the possibility that the real payoff comes once the games count for more than tune-up minutes. [Read more 🡒]
Nuggets May Finally Have An Answer For Their Non-Jokic Minutes
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Bagley was especially active, scoring 10 points and posting a team-best plus-minus, while Diallo added 8 points with a pair of threes. Strawther also stood out with 15 points and three made triples, and the encouraging part for Denver is how cleanly that work fit into a bench rotation that has been searching for a better answer when Nikola Jokic sits. [Read more 🡒]