Russell Westbrook Unlocks Everything For The Nuggets

Russell Westbrook Unlocks Everything For The Nuggets

The first round of the NBA playoffs was defined by the value of having bench players who produced like starters. Ty Jerome and DeAndre Hunter came up big for the Cavs, as did Nas Reed and Dante Danchenzo for the Wolves. TJ McConnell did his thing for Indiana. Al Horford remains as timeless as ever. And maybe the biggest story of any backup has been the play of Steven Adams. The most recent example of a bench player swinging the result of a playoff game or even a series though was Russell Westbrook, who did a little bit of everything to help the Nuggets beat the Clippers in seven games. Denver wants to run almost all of their halfcourt offense through Murray and Joic. So that means Russ spends most of his time spotting up in the corner. The Clippers took advantage of this by putting either Chris Dunn or Kawhai on him. That way, those guys could freely roam the floor and make plays while daring Russ to make the open jumper. Here’s an example from the final seconds of game one. Murray and Joic set up a pick and pop and Dunn completely abandons Russ on the other side of the floor to pick up the big man. Then, when the ball gets moved, nobody makes any effort to close out and he hits a three to give them the lead. In game two, the Clippers got even more aggressive. In the fourth, they put Zubots on Russ to play free safety. once again letting him catch the ball without a closeout to which he again makes them pay. About two minutes later, it was Harden who was matched up with Russ and left him alone in the corner to play the gaps and he finds himself with yet another wideopen triple that he knocks down. Needless to say, this strategy backfired on the Clippers. Over the entire series, he attempted 31 threes or about five a game, and he hit those at a very healthy 41.9% clip as he consistently punished LA’s defense for leaving him open. With that said, though, while the shooting was very critical in his value as an offball player, I’d say it was his movement that really gave the Clippers the most trouble. Watch him on this possession. He starts underneath the basket and flashes to about the free throw line while the Nuggets work to get Joic a post touch. Then as soon as an entry pass is made, he cuts in front of Harden with nobody there to protect the rim. Here’s another example. He starts on the perimeter and Don abandons him to help defend the twoman game. Instead of staying put, he floats into open space near the elbow, then hangs around the middle of the floor while Joic starts an attack, knowing that if Dunn helps, he’s left with an easy bucket. This movement was especially important when the Clippers went to his own with Harden playing up top and Zoo roaming behind Joic’s postup. There’s a little soft spot near the left side of the paint by cutting into that space, but Tomb is forced to rotate, leaving nobody to close out to Christian Brown in the opposite corner. Here’s another play from about 2 minutes later. Again, Joic looks to post up, but they actually send two before the entry. Again, by cutting into that space, Russ compromises the defense. Then he finds Watson on the baseline for a high quality look. So, leaving Russ alone can be dangerous. Not only was he hitting his threes, he was finding open space as a cutter and getting the defense in rotation. But arguably the toughest task for any defender leaving him open is making sure they get back in position to keep him off the glass. Again, I want you to watch him move without the ball. He’s just sort of floating around the court while the Nuggets get into action and nobody’s chasing him. So, by the time a shot goes up, he’s parked under the basket with inside position. then he’s got the athleticism to go up and get a rebound before scoring at the rim. He averaged about two offensive rebounds a game in this series, which is a lot for a guard, but I don’t even think that does him justice because he isn’t playing as many minutes as some starters. If we adjust for possessions, he averaged just under three offensive rebounds every 75 possessions, which was the most of any qualifying guard in the first round. Of course, with all of these skills away from the ball, Russ at this age is still a pretty good slasher. And the Nuggets have found some utility for that as well. If they’re running through Joic in the post, they often like to put Russ one pass away so that if they leave him, he’s able to catch the ball with space to attack on a drive. His slashing was also another counter for LA’s zone. It’s all about finding those soft spots. And by attacking the middle of the floor from the slot, he’s able to draw zubots and create an opportunity for Jokic. Most of his touches come in early offense, though. If he’s playing the point and sees a matchup he likes in transition, they want him playing downhill as much as possible. With Jokic spacing the floor from up top, LA’s rim protection was consistently compromised, which means that as long as Russ is able to get around his man, he’s going to create good offense. To make things even tougher, they’ll commonly have Joic set an early ball screen just below the three-point line. And with a spread floor, these basically lead to automatic paint touches. Another wrinkle with this Denver offense is that they like to get Jamal playing off the ball. And when they go to set action, they’ll often have Russ initiate because of how good of a passer he is, especially when Joic is on the bench. And these actions are another way for them to clear the paint and compromise help. So if Russ has a favorable matchup, he’s also a threat to put the ball down and apply more pressure on the paint. On offense alone, he had a super impactful series. He wasn’t the most efficient scorer, and he’s always prone to some turnovers. But between the constant rim pressure, the accurate three-point shooting, and the offensive rebounding, he found ways to make a difference. With all of that said, though, you could make a real argument that he was even more important to Denver’s defense. Throughout this series, he played a ton of different roles. He spent a little bit of time at the point of attack against Harden where he not only held his own in isolation, he wre some havoc against LA’s pick and roll game through his ability to pressure the ball and his recovery speed after fighting around screens. He also had some moments of outright denying the ball, like on this sideline out of bounds play from game one where he faceguarded Harden, then jumped the lane to force a turnover that would ultimately get them the win. For that reason, the Nuggets wanted him up top whenever they went to a zone. But the Clippers had a counter. They knew that if they were able to get the ball to the corner, Joic would have to close out, then they’d be able to attack him in space to get paint touches, which then put the rest of the defense in rotation. Not only did the Nuggets rotate well, by the end of the series, they made an adjustment. When the ball gets to Yokic’s man in the corner, they’re going to have the wing come with a double from up top. Then they’re going to have Russ zone up the twoon-one that allows the ball to get to the middle only for Russ to come with a late double and force a turnover. He’s a dangerous defensive playmaker in the middle of the floor. Not only is he athletic enough to cover space quickly, he’s extremely aggressive as a helper and has the hands to force turnovers. And it’s in these spots where his defensive value is most apparent. So instead of matching him up against LA’s guards, Denver actually deployed him as their primary offball guy, letting him roam the floor and blow up action. He started most possessions against LA’s weakest shooter on the floor, which meant that he was often the low man. And just like they did with him on the other end, his job was to sell out to the paint, then let that weaker shooter take the open three. There were two key differences, though. For one, those guys weren’t hitting the shots like he was. And secondly, the Nuggets used peel switches as a way to take away the space without completely abandoning the corner. Take this play for example. When Harden isolates, Russ aggressively plays the gap near the wing while Gordon angles his body to funnel the ball into that help. Then as soon as Russ picks up, Gordon peels out to the corner, not leaving Dunn with any room to attack off the catch. Utilizing Russ as a ror on the baseline was more about defending the spread pick and roll. Though against ball screens, they want Joic up at the level in a hedge. And that means it’s Westbrook’s job to tag the roll and help protect the rim. When their scheme works the way it’s intended, here’s what it looks like. Jokic jumps out to the ball. Russ tags the roll early. Then the next guy shifts down to protect the baseline. But this requires perfect execution from everyone because as soon as Russ tags the role early, then nobody shifts down. Now they’re giving up easy points. It especially requires perfect execution from Russ. Keep in mind, he’s still a guard. So if he isn’t able to prevent Zubots from catching the ball within range of the basket, he’s not going to be able to stop him. For the most part though, I think the Nuggets did an incredible job. When Powell comes off the screen, Joic takes away any angle to attack while Russ aggressively plays the pass to Zoo. There’s nowhere to go and the result is a turnover. Here’s another good example. This time, Russ is actually matched up with Kawhai, but he’s still the one who has to tag the short roll, and he gets a hand on a kickout pass. In this series, Denver was able to pretty much bottle up LA screening action, which was actually one of the bigger concerns for them heading into this series. Like I said, it required perfect execution from everyone. And Russ played a big role in that through his ability to roam and force turnovers. He recorded two steals per 75 in this series and had three steals in the fourth quarter of game seven, including this one that turned into a highlight when he threw down a dunk. then intentionally got a technical foul so that he could fire up the crowd. And a play like that is just so emblematic of what Russ brings to a playoff team, even at age 36 in year 17. If nothing else, you can expect constant energy on both sides of the ball. Whether it’s pressuring at the point of attack, jumping a passing lane, or going up at the rim on defense, whether it’s attacking the rim, crashing the glass, or knocking down threes on offense, he’s always doing something, and that’s about as much as you can ask for from a sixth man. That’s why he consistently found himself closing games in the first round, making winning play after winning play, and that’s why he played a major role in the Nuggets getting out of that series. If you enjoyed this breakdown, make sure to drop a like, subscribe, and turn my post notifications on to be first on more content. If you’re interested in my more in-depth research, make sure to check out the Hoop Venue podcast and my social media profiles. You can find those links in the description. Feel free to let me know down in the comments what you think of Westbrook. As always, I hope you all have a great day and I’ll catch you guys in the next one.

Russell Westbrook did a little bit of everything to help the Nuggets beat the Clippers in 7 games.

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