Despite finishing the 2019-20 regular season 11th in opponent points per game (109.2) and 16th in defensive rating (111.4), the Denver Nuggets’ defense in the seeding games and postseason was alarmingly bad.
A large reason for the Nuggets’ defensive miscues in the seeding games was their lack of chemistry and experience. Denver was missing two starters, Gary Harris and Will Barton, for all of them. As a result, heavy minutes would be played by two rookies (Michael Porter Jr. and Bol Bol) and two players (P.J. Dozier and Troy Daniels) that had played 22 total games for the Nuggets combined prior to the season restart.