11+26, the Nuggets exposed two major problems! Jokic really has no excuses, Westbrook and others should not take the blame

On May 12, the Nuggets played against the Thunder at home. At the end of the game, the Nuggets lost to the Thunder 87-92. After the start of this game, the two teams' offensive states were not good, but in the second quarter, the Nuggets slowly opened up their touch. In the third quarter, the Nuggets even broke out with three-pointers. In this case, the Nuggets successfully completed the overtake. In addition, given that the Thunder did not play well in this round of series, the Nuggets were infinitely optimistic at this time. However, in the fourth quarter, with Wiggins and Wallace hitting a three-pointer, the Thunder made a wave of offensive climax to complete the overtake. The Nuggets struggled in the subsequent offensive, and the Thunder successfully won the game.

After this game, the Nuggets exposed two major problems. The first problem was the Nuggets' three-pointers. In fact, the Nuggets' three-pointers on the outside this season have been poor, but relying on the performance of Murray, Gordon, Westbrook and others, the Nuggets' three-pointers on the outside are reasonable, but today's game, the Nuggets' three-pointers on the outside are problematic again. In the first quarter, the Nuggets' three-pointers on the outside are sluggish. Although the Nuggets found some three-pointers on the outside in the third quarter, the Nuggets' three-pointers on the outside in the fourth quarter were problematic again, which made the Nuggets' three-pointers on the outside in the fourth quarter, and this made the Nuggets' three-pointers on the outside very passive. At the end of the game, the Nuggets' three-pointers on the outside were 45. The second problem is the Nuggets' free throws. The reason why the Nuggets played passively in this game has a lot to do with their low free throw shooting rate. You should know that the Nuggets got a lot of free throws in this game, but in this game, the Nuggets made 26 of 36 free throws. It can be said that if the Nuggets' free throws are better, then the Nuggets may win the game.

At the same time, Jokic performed poorly in this game, and Jokic's touch has been bad since the beginning of this round of series. That is, in the previous game, Westbrook, Gordon, Porter, Murray and others once stood up to help the team in the game, otherwise the Nuggets' situation would be even more difficult, but Jokic really has no excuses in the face of such a situation. After all, the Nuggets' rotation lineup is like this in the regular season, so the Nuggets relied heavily on Jokic in the game, but it would be fine if Jokic played in the previous game. Now that the Nuggets need Jokic to stand up, Jokic still did not stand up.

And in this game, Jokic once missed two free throws in the fourth quarter. You should know that the Nuggets were already behind at that time. When Jokic played such a performance, Jokic really had no excuses. After all, Jokic is the absolute core of this team, so at the critical moment, Jokic should stand up to help the team, but Jokic's performance is disappointing. In the end, Jokic made 7 of 22 shots and scored 27 points, 13 rebounds and 3 assists. In the last three games, Jokic shot 7 of 22, 8 of 25 and 6 of 16, with a shooting percentage of less than 40% in three consecutive games, the first time since 2018. So when such data appears, Jokic also needs to reflect on it. He needs to perform better in the next game, otherwise the Nuggets will really be more and more difficult.

Of course, in this game, not only Jokic performed poorly, Westbrook and Gordon also had a downturn, but Westbrook and Gordon really shouldn't take the blame. After all, these two really tried their best in the game. Westbrook successfully hit a three-pointer in the Nuggets' outside three-pointer, and Westbrook successfully defended Alexander in the subsequent games. At the same time, Westbrook was abandoned at the critical moment. More importantly, Porter, who was on the court, kept making a blacksmith at the critical moment, so it was not necessary to put the blame on Westbrook at this time. As for Gordon, although he missed the free throw at the critical moment in the fourth quarter, Gordon had already tried his best on the court. When Gordon hit a vacant three-pointer and could actively fight for the rebound, Gordon had already tried his best, so Westbrook and Gordon should not take the blame.