The Denver Nuggets are an offensive wagon, but their defense has been lacking this season. We've seen countless back-door dunks, open-wing threes from a lack of rotation, and they've just generally been poor overall, ranking 19th in scoring defense and 24th in defensive rating. But does that even matter if they're putting up 125+ points a night? Perhaps the Nuggets' best defense could actually be their high-powered offense.
Sure, it helps if you hold the other teams to a lower number, but what the Nuggets are doing on offense this season is spectacular. They're tops in the league in scoring at 120.4 points per game, which is actually 5 points _lower_ than what they were scoring before the December 29th injury to Nikola Jokic. That's to be expected when [one of the best players](https://nugglove.com/nikola-jokic-making-strongest-case-yet-best-world) in the world sits out.
And they're shooting lights out, too. The Nuggets are the best three-point shooting team in the league, making 39.6% of their attempts, plus they're number two in overall shooting at 49.5%, and fifth in free-throw percentage, at 81%. Denver tops the league in true shooting percentage, 61.5%. Statistically, they are the best shooting team in the league.
Denver is doing this while ranking just 26th out of 30 in pace. If they decide to push the [tempo as they did](https://nugglove.com/nuggets-offense-erupts-road-win-starting-lineup-step-closer-to-whole) in the Chicago game, scoring 136 points, there aren't many teams that can keep up. Shooting plus pace equals a dangerous combination for any team to defend.
Slow starts have been plaguing the system
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The Nuggets have had a problem this season with slow starts. They fall behind early in the first quarter and have to play catch-up for a large chunk of the game. This needs to flip. If the offense comes out and sets the tone and builds a small lead early, opposing teams start to take more ill-advised shots to get back in the game. That's exactly what we want to see.
This actually creates a little bit of pace. Then Denver comes right back down and hits a three. If Denver is making threes at a higher percentage than everyone else, they simply need to shoot more of them to win. Yes, I know it sounds basic, but they're so efficient on offense that a little bit more pace could crush opposing teams. It's a great spot to be in.
We've heard the saying before, "Your best defense is a good offense." For this Nuggets team, that rings especially true.