The Nuggets need to be more aggressive on offense
Too many times in the second-half of this game, the Nuggets would settle for contested, low-percentage jump shots instead of getting the ball inside like they had success doing in the first-half. Denver went 5-6 from the free-throw line in this Game 1 loss compared to the Suns going 17-20 from the line.
While this may not have been the only factor to play into deciding this game, the fact that Denver was not aggressive on offense in the second-half really killed their momentum. They shot the ball fine, 46.7% from the floor and 35% from three-point range, but they had nothing going towards the hoop in the second-half.
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Getting ready for Game 2 on Wednesday, the Nuggets must make driving down the lane to the basket an emphasis because they need to shoot more than 6 free-throws the entire game if they are to be competitive in this series. Force the referees to make a call, otherwise, Denver is going to let Phoenix walk all over them on the other side of the court.
Phoenix is a great defensive team and they did an excellent job at keeping Denver out on the perimeter and out of the paint in the second-half of Game 1, but in Game 2, look for guys like Monte Morris, Aaron Gordon and Michael Porter Jr. to really attack their defenders and possibly get the Suns in foul trouble.
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Basketball is a game of runs and in the NBA playoffs, momentum shifts are huge. This game shifted back and forth between the Nuggets and Suns through about the first 32 minutes of this game, but from around the four-minute mark in the third quarter through the end of the game, this game was all Phoenix.
Denver did not take a single free-throw during the fourth quarter of Game 1, which greatly hurt their chances to at least stop the bleeding for a short period of time. They might still have lost this game if they did get to the free-throw line the same amount of times as the Suns, but in order for the Nuggets to even up this series at 1-1 heading back to Denver, they need to get some action on offense going to the basket and draw contact to get to the line.
