The white-hot Nuggets, coming off a head-spinning 140-129 victory Friday over Golden State, enter tonight’s game against the visiting Los Angeles Clippers averaging an NBA-most 111.2 points.
That big number, however, is offset by another one: Denver is allowing a league-high 108.3 points per game, making their average margin of victory just 2.9.
“I think it’s a problem, but I don’t think it’s a big problem,” Nuggets coach George Karl said of his team’s defense. “We’ve played very good defense, and can play good defense. The nature of the game is when it’s fast and there’s flow, you kind of keep playing that way.
“It’s not that we’re a bad defensive team. Statistically, we’re going to give up a lot of points because we’re going to force the tempo.”
Karl typically rewards his team with a day off if it reaches 125 points. Instead, Denver practiced Saturday because it also allowed 125 points. Karl did, however, cancel today’s shootaround for scoring the most points in Friday’s 269-point affair.
That 11-point victory was the Nuggets’ largest this season, and Denver’s 140 points were the most in the NBA this season and a franchise-high since 1991.
Karl said Golden State’s 57 percent shooting from the field is misleading, because the Nuggets forced 26 turnovers.
“They shoot (57) percent but if you don’t force 26 turnovers, they’re shooting 41 percent,” Karl said. “It comes in different packages. A forced turnover is like a missed shot, but it doesn’t go in the missed-shot column.”
Forward-center Marcus Camby, Denver’s best defender, shared Karl’s sentiments on the give-and-take of playing an up-tempo game.
“For the most part, I think it’s kind of hard for us to run the way we’ve been running, getting up and down the court as fast as Coach wants, and play the type of defense he wants, too,” Camby said. “Running like that usually takes away from your defense a little bit, but it’s something we’ve been harping on and talking about.
“We know we have to buckle down. But right now we’re just going with the flow, running up and down. Coach Karl doesn’t like it, but (assistant) Coach (Doug) Moe loves it.”
No one is complaining. Since beginning 0-3, the Nuggets have won four consecutive games and seven of eight.
“We’re feeling good about who we are,” Karl said. “The personality is good. We’re playing well, and in most games we’ve had leads. Unfortunately, we’ve blown some of them. But I respect the fact that in the 11 games we’ve played, we’ve led every one of them. That means we’re doing good things.”
Mike Chambers can be reached at 303-954-1357 or mchambers@denverpost.com.
