DENVER — Nuggets coach Michael Malone was adamant in late-January that he would start calling fewer plays in an effort to return Denver’s free-flowing offense to last season’s form behind Nikola Jokic. Over the Nuggets’ next 14 games, he held true to his word.
Behind Jokic, who posted All-NBA caliber numbers in February, the Nuggets won 10 of their next 14 games and registered the league’s third-best offense over that stretch. But since Paul Millsap returned to Denver’s starting lineup, Jokic has struggled. He’s averaging just 7.3 points, 8.3 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game over his last three outings. Jokic is also shooting 32 percent from the field in his last three games and is just 1-7 from distance.
Integrating a high-usage big man alongside Jokic is a difficult task for any offense — as was the case with Millsap and Jokic at the beginning of the regular season. To add to the equation, Jokic is also adjusting to more play calls from the sideline.
“When you look at the month of February that we had, the offense and how efficiently it was playing. I think now the only dilemma that I have is making sure with Paul back, we’re calling plays to get him the ball where he’s most effective, calling plays to get Nikola the ball,” Malone said. “Because when you have a free-flowing offense and the ball is finding the open man, sometimes you can go three, four five possessions without Nikola getting a shot.
“When I looked at the touches and his post-ups in the last four games compared to the season, they’re not far off. But now he just has to be a lot more aggressive when he gets the ball in those situations. But I don’t want to take away from what our guys are doing. We have a high-powered offense we are a tough team to guard and defend because you cant sit on set play calls. We play with great freedom and our play our guys have handled that freedom pretty well all season.”
Malone wants a more aggressive Jokic versus Cleveland. Jokic has attempted just 22 shots over his last three games.
“Nikola can’t take seven shots a night for us,” Malone said. “Granted, he is unselfish, he makes the right play and I love all of that. But Nikola needs to be aggressive. I want him taking 15 shots, 18 shots and look to score in the post and now he draws the double and triple team then make the right play. But I told him we need to get him back being a lot more aggressive and stop deferring to everybody. He’s our best player and we need him to step up in these last 18 games.”
For Malone, an aggressive Jokic also means crashing the offensive glass — something he hasn’t done as of late — and by playmaking from the perimeter, elbow or block. Denver will need that Jokic versus Cleveland if the Nuggets plan to beat the Cavaliers for the second time in five days.
