Michael Porter Jr. and Nikola Jokic need to be more aggressive and get to the free throw line

The Nuggets best two players with Jamal Murray out are Nikola Jokic and Michael Porter Jr. So far in this series, Jokic has played well and Porter Jr. has underperformed, but both guys have not been aggressive at all against Phoenix! 

In the playoffs, especially on the road, you are not going to win many games when your best players are not getting to the free throw line. Nikola Jokic has shot 6 free throws so far in this series, all of them coming in Game 2’s blowout loss and Michael Porter Jr. has only taken 4 free throws, all of them also coming in Game 2. 

If Denver is going to have a chance to move on to the Western Conference Finals for the second consecutive year, then they are going to have to attack the Suns’ defense. It is easier said than done, especially when the Suns were one of the best defensive teams during the regular season and are so far the best defensive team in the playoffs statistically, but in order for Denver to even this series over the next few games, they need to get the Suns in foul trouble. 

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Five minutes into Game 2, DeAndre Ayton had two fouls for the Suns and he did not commit a single foul the rest of the game! The score was 10-6 Phoenix and Ayton had two fouls, yet Denver did not target him when they were on offense. 

I am just lost for words at the fact that Denver did not look to attack the basket every chance that they got, especially with Ayton being in foul trouble early on in this game. Getting him out of the game early on could have really changed things for the Nuggets because Ayton is the Suns’ primary rebounder and their only big body that they can put on Nikola Jokic and have success doing so. 

Dario Saric is their backup center and against Nikola Jokic for most of the first-half, he would have been attacked every single possession, resulting in Denver getting high-percentage looks in the paint. Not attacking Ayton was one of the biggest flaws of Game 2 for Denver and moving forward in this series, they need to be aggressive on offense. 

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So far through two games against the Suns in this series, 45.6% of Denver’s total shots have been from the three-point line, which is playing right into the hands of the Suns. Monty Williams and the Phoenix Suns want Denver to shoot outside the paint because they do not make a high percentage of their three-point shots, as they have shot 33.7% from deep in this series. 

The Nuggets need to get to the free-throw line in this series in order to find success and both Jokic and Porter Jr. need to be tough moving forward. While he is dealing with a back tightness, Michael Porter Jr. needs to be the second-best player on the court for Denver, which results in him getting to the free-throw line at a high rate.