The Denver Nuggets need a better plan for Chris Paul

1. Chris Paul is dominating this series so far and he is doing it by getting into the paint off of PnRs with slow, controlled dribbles into the paint before finding the open man. By snaking the screen and keeping the on ball defender on his hip, Paul is able to slowly inch towards the paint while the help defenders are forced to freeze and await his read.

If this were football, it would be akin to a quarterback getting 10 seconds in the pocket. The game is moving slowly while Paul gets to the spots on the court that make the defense most vulnerable before making the easy play. The Nuggets have to find a way to either get the ball out of his hands or keeping him along the sidelines and out of the paint.

2. In the second half, the Nuggets tried to drop on PnRs but once again, Paul just inched his way to his spots and knocked down his favorite shot: short mid-range pull-ups.

3. There were even possessions where Paul would beat the defense by rejecting the screen. Plays like this one are dead on arrival for a defense.

4. Michael Porter Jr. has been a favorite target of CP3, especially in the 4th quarter of both games.

5. Phoenix is also great at disguising their PnRs with actions like this one, known as “Zipper Ghost Twist.”

More examples of it.

6. It seems clear that the Nuggets have emphasized getting out in transition but pushing in transition without shot selection discipline results in awful offense.

7. I’ve talked a lot about MPJ’s footwork coming off of screens. This clip provides an excellent example.