Basketball is a game of runs. The age-old adage rings true now more than ever before as the NBA shifts towards a fast-paced, 3-point-heavy style of play. The Denver Nuggets' run came in the first quarter Sunday. Despite a late-game rally from their second unit, the Brooklyn Nets were unable to match it during a 108-102 loss, their third straight.
Unlike their loss to Brooklyn one week ago, Denver's offense was firing on all cylinders in the first quarter as they scored 33 points on 13-of-22 shooting. Jamal Murray accounted for 20 of those on 7-of-10 shooting from the field and 4-of-4 from three to give the Nuggets a 12-point lead after one. The guard navigated Brooklyn's defense with ease while running off screens from Nikola Jokic and shooting off passes out of doubles by the reigning MVP.
Nets forward Mikal Bridges drew Murray on defense Sunday. And the longtime defensive stopper shouldered the blame for the Nuggets guard's hot start:
“They started off strong. I think personally I take a lot of blame because I think I was just poor on the defensive end,” Bridges said. “Obviously I was missing shots early, but that comes with the game. Missing, that's just part of it, but I can control playing defense. So that's what messed me up right now and that's on me.
“I've just gotta be more locked in on that side of the ball. If you've got four guys out there and one guy is messing up, it's gonna be tough, especially against a really good team like Denver. Everybody else was pretty much good, I've just gotta be better for sure.”
Jokic would finish with 22 points, 17 rebounds and 10 assists, but it was Murray's lethal start that provided the separation Denver had been unable to find during a 1-5 stretch heading into Sunday.
Despite opening the game 0-of-4 with two turnovers, Bridges finished with a team-high 23 points on 8-of-18 shooting. However, the Nets' 3-point struggles would not allow them to get over the hump while battling back from the early deficit. Brooklyn shot 7-of-26 (26.9 percent) from deep through three quarters. Dorian Finney-Smith, Cam Johnson, Royce O’Neale and Joe Harris, the Nets' four complementary wing shooters, combined to shoot 3-of-15 from beyond the arch.
For a Nets team filled with an assortment of complementary wings and no star, that shooting variance has been a common storyline when discussing recent losses. After a 1-6 start with their new-look roster following the trades of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, Brooklyn appeared to have turned things around last week. Sparked by a 28-point comeback in Boston, the Nets won five of six with victories over Denver and Minnesota on a four-game road trip.
Head coach Jacque Vaughn credited his team's fast starts when speaking about the hot stretch, an area they've come up short since during a three-game losing streak:
“I think overall you see the start of the game,” Vaughn said when analyzing Sunday's loss. “I thought on our road trip we had great energy, great juice. And somehow we've come home and lacked a little bit of energy and juice to start the game. It happened vs. Sacramento and happened again tonight. So I think the stars of the game are important for us just for confidence-wise, just for setting the tone. And I think early on they were the aggressors, and they set the tone of the game.”
The Nets delivered several counterpunches after the first quarter during the loss. They cut the lead to four midway through the second quarter only for Denver to extend it back to 15 going into halftime. After trailing by 20 early in the fourth quarter, an assortment of backups was able to cut the deficit to seven with 3:44 remaining. However, Denver would again hit timely shots to halt the run.
Bridges said those shots are a product of Brooklyn letting their opponent get in a rhythm during his team's lethargic start:
“The fight's there, that’s the biggest thing, but it's tough being down all the time,” he said. “We're just fighting, trying hard, but it always starts early, teams get confident, so if you make a run, they make a shot because they were already hot. Just starts early, just gotta be better.”
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