I made a film analysis video where I dug deeper into why the Nuggets defense looked so bad in Game 1, and put together some different suggestions for how they could improve to have a stronger defense in Game 2.

Here is the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAmwE9p082k

• Blazers had a 133.5 ORtg in Game 1, their second best offensive performance in team playoff history since 1984. Throughout a single season this would be 15 points higher than the greatest offensive season of all time ('20-'21 Nets)
• Nuggets ORtg was 118.3, exactly as high as this year's Nets
• Clearly, the Nuggets defense was the reason why they lost that game
• The Blazers half-court offense strongly relies on pick-and-roll, and they were one of the most efficient pick-and-roll offenses in the league this season. Because of that, I mostly focused on Nuggets pick-and-roll defense.
• When I studied the game deeper it seemed like the Blazers had a deliberate gameplan to attack the Nuggets PnR defensive scheme in Game 1.

• Denver played two main variations of pick-and-roll defense. Their simplest coverage was to have Jokic drop back to corral the drive. However, this gave up the pull-up jumper to the ballhandler.
• Their more common scheme was to bring Jokic up closer to the level of the screen. The idea here is to have Jokic engage the ballhandler and buy time for the guard defender to recover. This makes it much more difficult for Lillard to shoot a 3 off the dribble, but requires help defenders to contain the roll man.

• Reading Jokic's positioning, and immediately pulling up for an open jumper when seeing deep drop coverages
• When Jokic would come up higher, they would either make a quick pass to the rolling big or attack downhill if his positioning was poor.
• A more sophisticated idea I saw the Blazers execute was running side pick-and-rolls with an empty corner. In such plays, if Jokic comes up the help defender has to come from the weak side corner which is much further away.

• The biggest problem I saw with the Nuggets defensive was late, undisciplined rotations - help defenders getting to their spot too late and either having to foul or giving up open layups.
• I also saw many instances of their guards struggling to get over screens when Jokic came up to the level, leaving Jokic on an island and getting blown by.

What can the Nuggets do to improve?

• Abandon drops completely: Dame and CJ have shown time and again that they are ready and able to knock down pull up jumpers off of ball screens.
• When they bring the big up on PnR, I’d like to see the Nuggets help come earlier, before the roll man has a chance to get comfortable with the ball.
• Stay connected to the ballhandler and fight over screens. The Nuggets few defensive stops in pick and roll occurred when the guard stayed in the play.
• Jokic can be more active with his hands as he meets the ballhandler. Jokic has surprisingly good hands and I think he can make the pass to the short roller much tougher.

• Mix in some hard hedge/traps in just to show them different looks. The Miami Heat executed this with great success in a recent matchup with the Blazers.