Nuggets look to speed things up vs. Spurs in Game 2

The stat could almost make one do a double take. Game 1 fast break points: Nuggets 0, Spurs 2That’s not for a quarter. That’s for the entire game. It was something Nuggets coach Michael Malone and his staff know Denver must address if it wants to even up its first-round series against San Antonio on Tuesday night. “To come out of Game 1 with zero fast break points is disappointing,” Malone said at his Monday media availability at Pepsi Center. “They only had two, thank goodness, but that’s the pace that they want and they’re comfortable with it. We have to find ways after a miss, or a turnover, or even a made basket to get out and run.”During the regular season, Denver was a respectable 15th in the NBA in fast break points, averaging 12.5 points per game. San Antonio was 28th at 10.4. In Game 1, several of the young Nuggets got an introduction to the grind of playoff basketball thanks to one of the NBA’s foremost tacticians in Gregg Popovich.San Antonio hounded Denver on every possession, constantly doubling Nikola Jokić on almost every touch and ensuring that the hosts couldn’t get into a rhythm by taking away transition opportunities. Both teams would finish tied last among Game 1 playoff teams in pace at 93.50.Six of the nine players (Jokić, Jamal Murray, Gary Harris, Monte Morris, Malik Beasley and Torrey Craig) who featured for the Nuggets in Game 1 were making their playoff debuts. The hope is that with their initial postseason experience out of the way, the Nuggets will return to their passing style of play (third in the NBA in assists) that paved the way to 54 wins this season.“I think we took a lot of questionable shots. I think we had 41 possessions with zero or one-pass shots. That can’t be the case,” Malone said. “We have to work for the best shot possible.”The key factor where the Nuggets excelled in Game 1 was on defense, an area the team has improved upon with each progressive month of the season. Denver held San Antonio’s top two offensive stars, LaMarcus Aldridge and DeMar DeRozan, to a combined 36 percent from the floor. The home team has to be aggressive in converting missed shots from the opposition into transition opportunities. Accelerating the tempo of the game and spreading the ball around more should also alleviate some of the defensive pressure Jokic faced in the first game. If the Nuggets don’t give the Spurs time to set their defense up, it should open up easy buckets for their All-Star. “[We have]to push the attack and look to post Nikola early,” Malone said. “In transition, it’s a lot harder [for the opposition] to double team and execute [their] game.”Murray believes the challenges the Nuggets faced in the regular season will prepare the team to respond in Game 2. During the season, the team was 7-6 on the first game of back-to-backs and 12-1 on the second game, showing Denver quickly responds to setbacks. “Everyone's going to settle down, we're going to have some fun, we're going to get out and run and be mentally strong,” Murray said. “After all the adversity we faced in the regular season with the injuries and come-from-behind wins, we're going to bounce back and we're looking forward to it."And if the Nuggets do, a quicker tempo on offense could be the reason why.