It’s high time for the Nuggets and their fans to just embrace this full on; the team needs Russell Westbrook to reach their full potential. The Westbrook experience has been a roller coaster in the playoffs over the years, including a disastrous showing last season for the Clippers.
His playoff woes in the past were a big part of the reason that Westbrook was available to Denver as a free agent on a minimum contract. Contending teams were terrified of bringing in Russ to mess up their playoff rotations, with the Nuggets being the only team willing to take a shot on the former MVP.
Russ exceeded any expectations in the regular season, meshing very well with Nikola Jokic, helping the team when starters were constantly missing due to injuries, and getting himself into the mix for the 6th Man of the Year Award.
He played so well in the absence of other guys that when the team was fully healthy, former coach Michael Malone briefly decided to keep Russ in the starting lineup in place of Christian Braun. But the fears around Westbrook were never really about the regular season, but about what would happen once the playoffs started and teams started to expose his weaknesses.
Westbrook needs to start over Michael Porter Jr.
But Westbrook has been even better once the playoffs started. He has cut out a lot of the boneheaded plays, careless turnovers, and bad shot selection. He’s still providing a ton of energy, intensity, and competitiveness that the Nuggets feed off of and need badly.
He’s also locked in on the defensive end, and perhaps most importantly, he’s knocking down his shots at a high clip, shooting over 40% from the three-point line in these playoffs. He has been everything the team could have wanted and more, and Denver has needed it badly.
As Zach Lowe pointed out on a recent episode of the Bill Simmons Podcast, the lineup of Russ, Jokic, Braun, Jamal Murray, and Aaron Gordon has played 75 minutes in the playoffs with a +42 net rating, a +31 advantage in free throw attempts, and a 40% offensive rebounding rate. With Russ on the floor in place of Michael Porter Jr., the Nuggets are dominating their opponents.
With MPJ’s shoulder injury, David Adelman needs to lean into this even more. Porter Jr. has basically been playing with one arm since his injury in Game 2 against the Clippers. His shooting has been streaky, his defense has been brutal, and his minutes have been detrimental to the Nuggets at times.
Adelman should insert Russ into the starting lineup ahead of Game 2 to get his best lineup on the court for the most possible minutes. That will also take the Nuggets’ weakest defender off the floor and eliminate an outlet for the Thunder to attack, replacing him with Westbrook, who may be the Nuggets’ best option as a point of attack defender on SGA.
As an added bonus, this move would take some of the pressure off of Porter Jr. He wouldn’t be relied on for as many minutes or as big a burden, and could instead come into games off the bench and try to give the team short bursts where he can hopefully run around and get some open shots with his fresh legs.
Maybe the move sparks Mike, and he’s able to get his shot going. That would be a major boon for the Nuggets, as he looked unplayable in Game 1. But luckily, Westbrook looked like one of the best players on the floor. It’s a scary decision, but Adelman needs to trust him and allow Russ to keep being Russ out there.
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