The Nuggets’ free-throw pressure problem is not that Denver cannot make foul shots. It is that a playoff opponent can spend the final minute trying to keep Nikola Jokić and Jamal Murray from taking them.
That distinction should shape David Adelman’s work before training camp.
Denver shot 80.8 percent from the line during the 2025-26 regular season. The Nuggets then improved to 82.3 percent during their six-game first-round loss to Minnesota. On the surface, there is little to fix.
Look underneath that playoff number, though, and the problem changes.
Jokić and Murray combined to make 79 of 83 free throws against the Timberwolves. That is 95.2 percent. Every other Nugget combined to shoot 70 of 98, or just 71.4 percent.
That is the number Adelman has to carry into camp.
Denver does not need to teach its stars how to close. It needs a closing lineup that does not give the defense an obvious escape hatch once the ball leaves their hands.
The team percentage hides two very different offenses
The Nuggets went 54-28 and finished third in the Western Conference last season. Minnesota then beat Denver 4-2 in the first round of the 2026 playoffs, holding the league’s highest-scoring regular-season offense to 107.5 points per game in the series.
Free throws did not cause that loss.
Denver actually outshot Minnesota at the stripe, 82.3 percent to 76.9 percent. Jokić went 40-for-43. Murray went 39-for-40. Those two did exactly what a contender needs from its primary late-game creators.
However, the supporting numbers tell a different story.
Christian Braun went 14-for-19, or 73.7 percent. Cameron Johnson finished 12-for-17, or 70.6 percent. Aaron Gordon made seven of ten.
Small samples deserve caution. Six playoff games should not erase an entire regular season, especially for Johnson. He shot 83.9 percent during the regular season and owns a much stronger career record at the line. Braun also shot 78.2 percent before the playoffs, while Gordon finished at 76.7 percent.
Still, postseason basketball does not care about the comfort of a full-season average.
Late games shrink everything.
A coach may need one inbound. One clean catch. Two free throws. If the defense can force the ball toward the player it wants, the regular-season team percentage becomes less useful than the identity of the man standing at the stripe.
Adelman acknowledged that problem during Denver’s late-season struggles. After an overtime loss to Oklahoma City, he said, “Other guys are going to have to make the shot. They’re not allowing [Jokić and Murray] to operate in space.”
That is the entire late-game puzzle in two sentences.
The real issue is rotation geometry
Opponents cannot simply grab any poor shooter in the final two minutes.
NBA rules punish an away-from-the-play foul during that period with one free throw, which any player on the floor may attempt, plus possession. That makes the old-fashioned hack strategy much less useful when the targeted player does not have the ball.
The chess match happens before the foul.
A trailing defense can deny Murray on an inbound. It can face-guard Jokić, switch actions and pressure the passer. Once Denver’s third or fourth option catches the ball, the defense can foul the ballhandler and live with the result.
That makes late-game foul shooting a lineup issue rather than a shooting-drill issue.
Consider the basic closing group.
Jokić and Murray are automatic choices. Braun gives Denver size, transition speed and point-of-attack defense. Johnson stretches the floor. Gordon supplies strength, screening, rebounding and the ability to defend across positions.
It looks balanced.
Then put Denver ahead by three with 27 seconds left and make the other team foul.
Now every inbound matters.
Minnesota would gladly force Denver to throw toward Braun rather than Murray. A defense could crowd Jokić and make Gordon work back toward the ball. If Johnson catches it, his career numbers suggest Denver should feel comfortable, but his 12-for-17 playoff performance offered opponents something to test.
Rival scouts are tracking those decisions.
Not a fatal weakness. A matchup to hunt.
Christian Braun has to become harder to target
Braun’s role makes his free throws especially important.
Denver does not want to remove him late. He can chase guards, switch onto wings and attack a tilted defense without demanding touches. His physicality also fits next to Murray in a way that a smaller scoring guard might not.
However, a 73.7 percent playoff mark gives an opponent a reason to test him.
The concern becomes bigger because Braun’s offensive role naturally sends him into traffic. He cuts behind Jokić. He runs the floor. He attacks closeouts. When Denver needs to escape pressure, he may become the easiest release valve because defenses have already loaded toward Murray.
That catch must feel safe.
The Nuggets do not need Braun to become a 90-percent shooter. Moving his 78.2 percent regular-season mark into the low 80s would already alter the calculation. More importantly, Denver needs him comfortable taking the ball when everyone knows the foul is coming.
Front-rim one and the defense gets interested.
Make four straight and the tactic loses some appeal.
Cameron Johnson deserves more trust than one series suggests
Johnson presents the opposite problem.
His 2026 postseason percentage looks alarming. His larger shooting profile does not.
Denver acquired Johnson from Brooklyn in July 2025 in the deal that sent Michael Porter Jr. and a 2032 first-round pick to the Nets. Johnson then shot 83.9 percent at the stripe during his first regular season with the Nuggets.
That matters when separating noise from a genuine weakness.
Johnson should enter camp as a player Adelman can trust at the line. Yet Denver still has reason to work on how he handles pressured catches. Minnesota made the entire Nuggets offense uncomfortable during stretches of the first round, and Johnson’s five missed free throws added to a difficult series.
His value also extends beyond the stripe.
Johnson’s presence forces defenders to respect the weak side. Put him beside Jokić and Murray, and Denver can punish aggressive help with a quick swing to a proven shooter. Because of that spacing, keeping Johnson on the floor can make it harder for opponents to deny Denver’s preferred ballhandlers.
That is the connection.
Free-throw security cannot come at the expense of the offense that created the lead.
Peyton Watson and Lonnie Walker IV complicate the closing lineup
Peyton Watson changes the conversation if he returns.
His 2025-26 breakout was real. Watson averaged 14.6 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.1 assists while shooting 41.1 percent from three over 54 appearances. His free-throw percentage, though, finished at 73.0 percent.
Watson did not play against Minnesota because of a hamstring injury, so Denver never got to test the full version of its wing rotation in that series.
If Watson returns, Adelman faces a fascinating late-game choice.
Watson’s length can change defensive possessions. Braun brings similar two-way value. Playing both alongside Gordon gives Denver serious size around Jokić and Murray.
Yet that lineup could also place three sub-80-percent regular-season foul shooters around the two stars.
Does Adelman sacrifice some defense for another ballhandler?
Could Julian Strawther’s shooting earn him situational minutes?
The arrival of Lonnie Walker IV gives Denver another option.
Walker agreed to a one-year, $3.3 million deal with the Nuggets in August after spending the 2025-26 season with Maccabi Tel Aviv. He averaged 15.2 points in EuroLeague play and adds another guard capable of creating a shot when defenses overload toward Denver’s stars.
His foul shooting makes the fit more complicated.
Across Maccabi’s EuroLeague and domestic schedule, Walker made 119 of 155 free throws, or 76.8 percent. His Israeli league mark was better at 81.5 percent, but his full-season number does not automatically make him Denver’s late-game foul-shooting solution.
That matters.
Walker may give Adelman more off-the-dribble creation than some of Denver’s bigger wings. Yet if the Nuggets use him to improve ball security late, opponents will immediately test whether his free throws justify keeping him on the floor.
Again, the question comes back to trade-offs.
Denver might prefer Watson’s length on one possession, Braun’s defense on another and Walker’s handle when an opponent starts blitzing Murray. Training camp needs to identify which combinations survive both ends of that equation.
Denver should practice the possession before the free throws
Extra foul shots after practice will help, but Denver should spend just as much time on what happens before someone reaches the line.
Build scrimmage situations around it.
Give one group a two-point lead with 38 seconds left. Make the defense deny Murray. Put Jokić behind aggressive fronting coverage. Force Braun, Gordon, Watson or Walker to flash into the open space and receive the inbound.
Then foul the catch.
That drill tests more than shooting.
Can the inbounder stay patient? Can the receiver create separation without committing an offensive foul? Does Denver have a second action when Murray gets taken away? Can the eventual shooter settle his feet after wrestling through contact?
Those details matter because playoff pressure rarely arrives in isolation.
A player may sprint through two screens and get bumped during the catch. The opponent calls timeout after the foul. Officials check the clock. Then he finally walks to the stripe.
The shot still counts the same.
The preparation should not.
Adelman’s own comments provide the blueprint. Opponents already understand that giving Jokić or Murray room late is a losing proposition. Denver must prepare everyone else to finish the possession when defenses sell out against those two.
Adelman needs five players he can trust with the ball
The Nuggets’ free-throw pressure question should not become a bigger problem than it actually is.
Denver shot 82.3 percent against Minnesota. Jokić and Murray were nearly flawless. Johnson’s regular-season record suggests his playoff dip should rebound. Braun has improved several parts of his game before, and another offseason gives him time to attack this one.
Still, that 95.2-to-71.4 split between Denver’s two stars and everybody else should get Adelman’s attention.
The Nuggets already know how opponents will approach them.
Load up on Jokić. Chase Murray. Make someone else decide the possession.
Sometimes that means Braun attacking a closeout. Sometimes Johnson gets the open three. Gordon may have to make a short-roll read. Walker could become the pressure release when Murray gets trapped.
Then there are nights when the defense does not want any of those shots.
It wants the foul.
Training camp gives Denver a chance to determine which five-man groups can survive that situation without compromising the defense, spacing or rebounding that made them useful in the first place.
That makes foul shooting one piece of a larger closing-lineup puzzle.
The best version of Denver will still put the ball in Jokić’s hands whenever possible. Murray will remain the obvious second option. Nobody needs to reinvent that formula.
But May games rarely follow the first option.
The contender that survives usually has a fourth and fifth player who can handle the ugly possession too.
For Denver, that means catching the inbound, protecting the basketball and stepping to the line without giving the opposing bench a reason to foul again.
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FAQs
Why are the Nuggets worried about free throws?
Denver’s stars are not the problem. Jokić and Murray shot 95.2 percent combined against Minnesota, while the rest of the Nuggets made 71.4 percent.
What did the Nuggets shoot from the line against Minnesota?
Denver shot 82.3 percent from the free-throw line during its six-game first-round playoff series against Minnesota.
How did Christian Braun shoot free throws in the 2026 playoffs?
Braun made 73.7 percent of his free throws against Minnesota. He had shot 78.2 percent during the regular season.
Why does free-throw shooting affect Denver’s closing lineup?
Opponents can deny Jokić and Murray and force another Nugget to handle the ball. Denver needs supporting players who can punish intentional late-game fouls.
Where does Lonnie Walker IV fit with the Nuggets?
Walker gives Denver another ballhandler and scorer. His foul shooting will also matter when David Adelman decides which guards he can trust in closing situations.
Tracking stats and settling debates. If there is a scoreboard, I am watching it.
