Since inserting Russell Westbrook into the starting lineup, the Denver Nuggets have been playing great. They are 3-1 in their last four games with him starting, and 9-2 on the season with Westbrook in the starting lineup. They have slowly climbed back into the top four in the Western Conference. While many were skeptical of the Westbrook signing, it seems like the point guard has helped to unlock the Denver Nuggets offense. Let’s see how he impacts the game.
3 Ways Russell Westbrook Unlocks the Denver Nuggets’ Offense
After the win against Atlanta, Westbrook spoke to reporters about his chemistry with Nikola Jokic. That is one of the big things people were skeptical of going into the season. Westbrook is not a big-time shooter, and the Nuggets lacked three-point shooters. But Westbrook and Jokic have made things look amazing on offense. Here is what he said about it after the win vs. Atlanta,
“He is the best player in the world and my job is to make the game easy for him. He does it for everybody else and it’s a pleasure to be able to share the flow with him.”
Now let’s see all the ways Westbrook has unlocked the Denver Nuggets offense.
Free Throw Shooting
Last year, the Nuggets were ranked 29th in the league at generating free throw attempts. This year, they are No.1 in the league, averaging almost 25 free throw attempts per game. Westbrook is key to that. While he doesn’t average a large number of free throws, only 3.3 per game, his play gets teams in the bonus.
Westbrook is relentless in attacking the basket, and when teams get in the bonus, it makes the game easier for Jokic. All the small fouls and jostling where opponents try to stop Jokic in the paint become free throw attempts. Jokic is getting one more free throw attempt per game compared to last season, but the whole team benefits from Westbrook playing fast and aggressively.
More Transition Opportunities and Open Looks
Westbrook loves to play fast, and he is always aggressive. Tim Legler recently spoke about it on a podcast, explaining how Westbrook creates easy looks for the whole team. He said,
“Russell Westbrook creates a surge up the floor that might not lead directly to transition offense, but on that possession, they might end up with a great shot and it’s all because they put the defense on their heels. You force an overreaction to a guy pushing a ball that far, so now you’re imbalanced defensively and you’re scrambling around. Sometimes it’s after a made free throw where all of a sudden you’re running back as fast as you can. You get flooding to the paint which leads to a trail guy being open even if he doesn’t have the shot, there’s a hard close out, and now you can beat somebody off the dribble and get in maybe one more kick out for a shot. That’s not fast break offense, that’s not secondary break offense.”
Makes the Game Easier for Nikola Jokic
Jokic is having another MVP-level season, and so far, he is the early leader for the award. Both Jokic and Westbrook are adapting and finding ways to improve themselves. For example, knowing that Westbrook is not a great shooter, Jokic has taken it upon himself to improve the spacing of the team and shoot more three-pointers. For the first time in his career, Jokic is shooting more than four three-pointers per contest. He converts them with an astonishing efficiency of 49.2% this season.
When Westbrook has the ball, he tries to get Jokic an easy look. The big man doesn’t have to work as much because Westbrook creates easy looks for him. So far this season, Westbrook has more than 70 assists to Jokic.
In the same podcast we mentioned above, Adam Mares talked about the chemistry between Westbrook and Jokic. He has 73 assists already (before the Hawks game) to Jokic. Westbrook finds a way to get the ball to the big man at a rate nobody has ever gotten it to him. That has helped Jokic’s scoring, and he is averaging more than 30+ points for the first time in his career.
Will it Translate to the Playoffs?
The big question for the Nuggets offense is how well it will translate to the playoffs. That is when things slow down, teams have more time to prepare, and exploit weaknesses.
Yet, in the playoffs, he has shown weaknesses that teams try to exploit. For example, he can be a bit stubborn and force things. For now, the Nuggets will take his energy and hope to get higher in the standings.
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