When all the analytic and advanced statistic dust settles, winning and losing in the NBA gets down to its most basic, most vital, skill.
Shooting.
“At the end of the day, it’s a make-or-miss league,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said.
Lately, the Nuggets have been making.
The Nuggets’ offense has been revved up during this, their hottest streak of the season, with five victories in six games, including three in a row.
WATCH:
The Nuggets have averaged 104.2 points per game in their last six games, a whopping six points more than their season average of 98.1. They have hit the century mark in all but one of those games.
“We have worked on offense much more than we did in Sacramento,” Malone said, referring to his previous coaching stop. “We have to have great spacing, great ball movement and we spend a lot of time every day working on all of that stuff. Our practices are 50-50 (offense and defense), and if not 50-50 then a little bit more on the offensive end. Because we need it.”
It’s been paying off.
The Nuggets (11-14) have improved their field-goal percentage to .432 with 45.8 percent shooting in the past six games. The overwhelming majority of their attempts are two-point shots — 72.2 percent.
That’s typical for Denver’s pick and roll-heavy offense, which emphasizes getting big men to the basket, slashes and kicks to open shooters and sneaks in post-ups when it can.
“Even when we don’t make shots, I look at us the last three weeks and I think our ball movement has been great,” Malone said. “Do we make the shot? Do we finish? Not always, but I love the quality of shots we get for the most part.”
The Nuggets have improved their defense too, but the biggest difference of late has been more efficiency on offense. They still haven’t won a game this season when scoring under 100 points, but they are 11-3 when they score more than 100.
“We just need to be more consistent, and it starts here in practice and guys’ work ethic and our focus,” guard Jameer Nelson said. “We had great, great practices and shootarounds going into those games that we’ve been winning and it shows. We have to continue to do that and continue to get better every day.”
Christopher Dempsey: cdempsey@denverpost.com or @dempseypost
DENVER AT UTAH
When: 7 p.m. Friday
TV/Radio: ALT; 950 AM
Spotlight on Alec Burks:
The 6-foot-6 former University of Colorado star has the skill and size to play any position from point guard to small forward. Right now, the Jazz is using him as a primary ball handler. He probably will be the Jazz’s starting point guard Friday night against the Nuggets. He has been used a lot this season as a shooting guard off the bench, but two of his three starts have come at point guard. He is averaging 14.8 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game.
NOTEBOOK
Nuggets:
The team received more good news about Jusuf Nurkic on Thursday. He has been cleared to begin contact practices. That allows for some clarity on a possible return to the court for game action. He will be on restricted minutes in practices that gradually increase until he is a full participant. When he does participate fully in practices, coach Michael Malone said, he will be available to play. Nurkic has missed the entire season after undergoing surgery to repair a partially torn left patellar tendon.
Jazz:
Utah continues to play without starting center Rudy Gobert, one of the best rim protectors in the NBA. He suffered a Grade 2 sprain of the medial collateral ligament in his left knee and has been out of action since Dec. 2. He was a key contributor in Utah’s first meeting with the Nuggets this season — a 96-84 win for the Jazz on Nov. 5 — finishing with 16 rebounds, eight points and three blocked shots. The Jazz promoted center Tabor Pleiss from the Idaho Stampede.
Christopher Dempsey, The Denver Post
