Golden State Warriors: 3 X-Factors in series versus Denver
By Tony Pesta
3. Denver’s 3-point shooters
Nikola Jokic is going to pose the biggest challenge to Golden State’s defense.
However, his scoring is something they will come to live with. It is Jokic’s passing — and his teammate’s shooting — that will be the primary concern.
Limiting Jokic will be *easy* if the Nugget’s shooters underperform. This has been a common theme for Denver despite being one of the most consistent teams in the NBA.
The Nuggets ranked 14th in 3-point shooting and were led by Will Barton with 157 total 3-pointers. Monte Morris had the highest efficiency at volume with 124 makes on 39.5% shooting while Bones Hyland connected on 131 total 3-pointers as a 36.6% shooter.
Golden State will likely not have to worry about Jamal Murray or Michael Porter Jr. making an appearance during the first round as both recover from injury.
No one else on the Nuggets poses a huge threat to explode from deep but the ever-possible avalanche of 3-pointers from Morris, Hyland and Barton could make it difficult for the Warriors to dominate this series.