How continuity helped the Nuggets build the NBA’s tightest defense

In an attempt to put his finger on how the Denver Nuggets grew to own the NBA’s second-best defense, Brooklyn Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson didn’t see any statistical marks that leapt off the page. They rebound pretty well, don’t turn the ball over, and allow a ton of threes (albeit contested ones), but besides that nothing stood out.

Instead, chatting with his staff, they settled on something so simple yet inexpressibly important to explain Denver’s success on that end: continuity. “That’s the conclusion we came to,” Atkinson said. “Both their starters and their second unit, those guys have been playing together for a long time.”

Denver’s decision to run back the same roster (plus a spring-loaded Jerami Grant) is not breaking news. But coming out of a summer where nearly half the league’s players changed teams, their ingrained connection separates them from almost every other contender.

Last year, Denver returned 98 percent of its previous season’s minutes, second only to the Miami Heat. This year, they brought back a league-high 89 percent of a team that was one or two plays from competing in the Western Conference Finals. And within that same roster, the Nuggets play the same lineups. They spend more time with all five starters on the floor than any other team (41.5 percent of all their possessions), and more time with zero starters on the floor than any other team (19.7 percent of all their possessions). Depth makes that possible, but one hopeful byproduct is a togetherness that can delete hesitancy from the hothouse of playoff basketball.

So far, the results have been mixed. Thanks to a recent road trip through the Atlantic Division, the Nuggets have lost five of their last seven games. They’re slow and can’t score or get to the line, with a franchise superstar who’s off to arguably the most disappointing start in the league. On some nights Nikola Jokic looks like the profoundly creative All-NBA center he is. In others, he appears disengaged and out of shape.

But, at 15-8, that resilient defense has kept them afloat amid one of the toughest schedules in the league. Warts and all, their progress on that end is significant. Last year Denver finished No. 10 in defensive efficiency, and the season before that they were No. 23. This year’s group is almost identical to those previous two, with similar faces, terminology, and principles. What’s different, naturally, is their collective experience.

“It’s a huge advantage because I think you have a sense of where your teammates are going to be, always covering each other’s mistakes,” Nuggets President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly told SB Nation. “None of us are perfect, none of our players are perfect...You don’t stop anyone in the NBA, you just make it hard. But I think the energy and overall commitment to the gameplan have been excellent.”

Chemistry is a complicated, frustrating, and valuable concept. Common sense affords that the best (only?) way to establish it is through repetition. The longer players are around one another, the more recognizable everybody’s habits will be. Bonds will take shape and important dynamics found in any successful partnership will crystallize.

In an age of analytics, chemistry belongs in the cosmos. It’s hard to measure but easy to see. For teams attempting to leap from very good to great, it’s priceless. Teammates must know one another’s tendencies, how to read each other on and off the court. Denver’s base defense — which relies on back-line rotations, aggressive ball pressure, and constant communication — would crumble without it.

Against pick-and-rolls, the Nuggets typically bring the screener’s man up to the point of attack. As this happens, the low man behind him will sink into the paint to cover the open roller until his initial defender can get back. They keep their hands high, force difficult passes, and help the helper.

It’s a bet on timing and cohesion. When it doesn’t work the Nuggets forfeit shots at the rim and behind the three-point line. (Their location-effective field goal percentage is bad for this reason.) But more often than not every player on the floor shares the same brain, five synchronized swimmers scurrying around as one body. It’s beautiful to watch, and a nightmare to score on.

The clip below begins with Jokic doubling Bradley Beal at the top as Grant shuffles over to pick up Thomas Bryant. With no other options, Beal kicks it to Davis Bertans, which lets every Nugget settle back to their original assignment. The possession resets with the shot-clock winding down, and the Wizards eventually chuck up the exact contested floater Denver hoped they would once Jokic takes away Beal for the second time.

When they don’t have time to scram switch off the ball, help in the paint often comes in the form of an undersized guard or wing, but the Nuggets still don’t make anything easy. Everybody has quick hands and they either swipe down at the ball or wall up and try not to foul. It’s a vulnerable spot to be in, but the Nuggets have knowledgeable players who time everything right — from Gary Harris, Jamal Murray, and Barton, to Monte Morris and Malik Beasley.

“We’re not perfect,” Malone said. “But I think our guys, after five years, finally have a pretty good understanding of what we’re trying to do.”

All this chaos looks great when it works, but it’s not easy. Even the tightest units get burned by smart teams that anticipate what’s coming, and, in a three-point-happy league, there’s a reason why most teams don’t use multiple defenders to stop a pick-and-roll: It’s easier to drop the big, keep help defenders home on the perimeter, and force pull-up jumpers. But the Nuggets want to have their cake and eat it too.

For the second year in a row, Denver is allowing a bunch of threes, particularly from the corner. That’s not ideal. But also for the second year in a row, nobody is holding opponents to a lower shooting percentage from beyond the arc. Right now shooters are only making 35.2 percent of the wide-open ones, which is the second-lowest mark in the league.

Some of this is good fortune, and some of it’s because the Nuggets make an effort to race out and contest, run good shooters off the line, and let the bad ones fire away. They’re rabid, and aware that success in every possession is contingent upon multiple efforts, gameplan discipline, and wise use of their speedy athleticism.

This corner three by Sacramento Kings rookie guard Justin James is a decent example of what happens when they dictate the offense’s action instead of it being the other way around. The Nuggets neutralize Sacramento’s initial pick-and-roll, then settle into a coverage that allows them to dictate terms. It’s by design and speaks to their attention to detail:

To some degree, opposing three-point percentage is a noisy statistic that’s dictated by myriad variables outside Denver’s control — the most prominent being luck, which won’t always be on their side. And in the play below, Jokic compounds the high-risk nature of Malone’s scheme by putting himself in no man’s land. He isn’t high enough to bother Spencer Dinwiddie and isn’t low enough to let Harris know not to help in the paint. The result:

Beyond the pick-and-roll, their half-court defense is smart enough to take away primary and secondary options. Watch for the subtle feints on this possession against the Philadelphia 76ers, from Barton initially stepping off Matisse Thybulle to thwart Ben Simmons’ drive, to the three (count ‘em, three) major efforts Paul Millsap makes before he steals the ball.

Later on, the Sixers ran a similar action trying to get Simmons going downhill, but Jokic reads it from the jump, comes off Joel Embiid, and forces a turnover.

“Just knowing each other, knowing the spots where you’re supposed to be,” Jokic said when asked about continuity’s effect on Denver’s defense. “You sacrifice yourself for the team, and that’s the main thing.”

There are long stretches where the Nuggets will make perfect rotations and reads. Everybody knows Malone’s system like the back of their hand, and are prepared in switch situations that demand assistance, stunts, and a grasp of the entire opposing roster, not just their own man. “If you gotta help or switch,” Nuggets guard Monte Morris said. “You’ve kinda got a head start on it. I think that’s something we take pride in.”

If this defense has an identity, help is its name. Straight line drives don’t exist when they lock in. All ball-handlers see are bodies after bodies after bodies in front of them. There are occasional miscommunications and run-of-the-mill blunders seen from any team in any game, but for the most part trying to score against the Nuggets is a miserable, 1-on-5 confrontation. There are no spectators in Denver’s rotation. Everyone participates.

“It’s good because you know your teammate has your back,” Harris said. “You trust to send your man to a certain person, or you trust that your teammates will be in a certain spot to help you out if you do the right thing. So I think it just helps us all out, because we know that we’re helping each other out.”

(On Harris, Connelly said, “I think you’d be hard-pressed to find a better perimeter defender in the league.”)

Familiarity breeds trust, and trust leads to the quick decisions that stand in as oxygen for Denver’s defense. It’s also the foundation of any cultural buy-in, wanting everyone else to succeed even more than you do. Sure, they know the nightly gameplan, each other’s strengths and weaknesses, and the fundamental philosophies behind how they want to get stops, but just as critical coming into this season was the bond from having shared a heartbreaking Game 7 loss at home in last year’s Western Conference semifinals.

That can either pollute a roster’s self-belief or make them thick as thieves. The Nuggets have gravitated towards the latter. As a minor yet telling example, they all watch NBA League Pass, and, outside of a film session, will chat among themselves about what they’re seeing around the league, then share notes about upcoming opponents. Every smidge of information helps when the margins are so slim.

“It’s helpful to see some of the intel they gather on their own pay off during the game,” Connelly said.

But continuity is no magic bullet, even when tied to a savvy scheme that’s well executed and understood. Denver has a glut of above-average-to-excellent defenders, too. And outside Jokic — whose perceived defensive shortcomings will be melded into his narrative as a franchise centerpiece until he either retires or wins a championship — the Nuggets don’t have any one rotation player who opposing offenses can sink their teeth into.

Murray is probably closest, given his minutes, size, and heavy offensive burden. But so far he’s vindicated himself as one of their feistier pieces. Players feel him, even when he’s not guarding them.

Before this season began, the Nuggets challenged Murray. Don’t be a guy that has to be hidden. Don’t be a guy that we have to try to be creative with. He’s responded, with more responsibilities to come. “Jamal knows the next step for him is to defend the elite guys,” Connelly said.

Guys like Millsap and Mason Plumlee are rock solid, and others have made noticeable strides on an individual level.

“I think it’s really neat to see a healthy Will Barton play at a defensive level he’s never played at,” Connelly said. “He’s a guy who really knows the game and has always had a high defensive ceiling, but maybe he didn’t have the commitment or the focus for 48 minutes.”

Denver’s defense allows 97.9 points per 100 possessions with Barton on the floor, and is 8.5 points per 100 possessions worse off when he sits. A lot goes into both those numbers, but they’re still ridiculous for a player who had the worst defensive rating on the team a year ago. (Barton currently leads the NBA in defensive real plus-minus. Millsap is third.)

Sustaining this defense for 82 games and then taking it into the holy hellfire that will be this year’s postseason won’t be easy. A bit of their success might be attributed to most of their opponents using the early part of this season to get acquainted with their new surroundings. Those teams will eventually figure themselves out.

But if Denver’s defense stays as locked in as it has, supporting an offense that’s too talented not to finish in the top 10, a deeper playoff run should be in the cards. The Nuggets won’t turn on each other in times of adversity, and more reps should only tighten the string they’re already holding.