Ethan came over to help from the side right away, forcing Murray to pass the ball.
Murray did exactly as he was told, passing it to Jalen Green, who was wide open in the corner.
Green caught the ball and immediately took the shot without hesitation. That decisiveness was about the only thing worth praising...
The ball clanged off the rim and bounced away.
A few seasons ago, he could still be considered a Spacing Option, shooting 38% or 39% from three on average, and even hitting 41.3% at his peak.
He also averaged more than 3.5 three-point attempts per game, which wasn't bad at all, purely by the numbers.
Unfortunately, starting last season, the "veteran"—who looked much older than his years—had begun to suffer a steep decline in his outside shooting.
In the 2021–22 season, Jalen Green's average attempts had fallen all the way to 1.9 per game, and he made only 0.5 of them...
His 26.6% three-point percentage for the season had been downright awful.
And this season, his form hadn't improved in the slightest. He was still a full-fledged "ice-cold shooter."
That was one of the reasons Ethan dared to double-team Murray without hesitation.
The ball bounced off the rim, just as expected, and Drummond gathered it securely.
Against an interior player of Nnaji's caliber, Drummond was still Drummond~~
From every angle, the Denver Nuggets—the 2021 championship team—seemed to have declined at an absurdly rapid pace.
Look at the Thunder next door. Even after trading away Chen Xi, they still had the deepest roster in the League and the strength to keep competing for a championship.
As for the Denver Nuggets...
Their starting lineup was still strong, but the depth of their bench was genuinely worrying.
At least judging by what they'd shown so far, the Nuggets'