NBA Playoffs 2011: Denver Nuggets' Game 1 Problems and Game 2 Solutions

Durant shoots, yes!

Wesbrook drives and pulls up, sinks the shot!

Durant from downtown, bang!

If the venerable Marv Albert called Game 1 of the Thunder-Nuggets series, it might have sounded something like that.

Oklahoma City's two stars were spectacular, making the Ford Center thunderous with noise from the fanatical faithful.

Durant ended the game with 41 and Westbrook scored 31, totaling 72 of the team's eventual 107 points.

Kevin Durant, the NBA's leading scorer this year, was unconscious tonight, going 13-for-22 (59 percent) from the field with many shots coming off screens from 20 feet. He added 3 three-pointers and was basically undefendable in the game.

Alone Durant wouldn't have been able to beat the Nuggets, but his sidekick and the other star in the building, Russell Westbrook, found himself in a zone as well. Westbrook couldn't be stopped when driving to the hoop and pulling up in the middle of the lane to rise above Ty Lawson and other defenders to sink his jumper graciously.

And more than scoring, Durant and Westbrook combined to grab 15 rebounds and dish out nine assists. They made the Thunder run tonight.

As for Denver, they were definitely at their best when driving to the hoop, playing aggressively and playing inside-out basketball.

In the first quarter, the Nuggets attacked the Thunder and jumped out to a 19-6 lead with booming dunks by Nene and nice inside floaters by Kenyon Martin on offense, while their defense was highly energetic and the effort forced turnovers.

Denver played inside-out basketball. The easy shots from up close led to open jumpers that the Nuggets knocked down. They were so hot to start the game, Denver zapped all the energy out of the usually uproarious Ford Center.

But the Nuggets went away from the inside-the-paint game and became an almost exclusive jump-shooting team and they were off for a good amount of the game. JR Smith was a mere 3-for-8, K-Mart ended the game 4-of-12 despite carrying Denver in the second quarter and Raymond Felton was terrible 4-of-11, including the silly shot selection to shoot a contested three-pointer with 12 seconds left on the clock.

And at the end of the game, as the Nuggets lost 107-103, Denver played a good game but not their best game, and there is much to improve upon for Game 2.

First and Foremost, Guard Westbrook Better

Westbrook did basically whatever he wanted against the Nuggets defense. Ty Lawson was overmatched because of the size difference, and the Nuggets must adjust.

Arron Afflalo is extremely missed on the defensive end of the court because he would likely be guarding Westbrook. And while it's impossible to stop him when he's in the zone like Sunday night, Afflalo could slow Westbrook down a bit.

"We can make some adjustments on Durant and Westbrook and keep controlling their other guys and we can make it a heck of a series." Nuggets head coach George Karl said in the postgame press conference.

Hit the Free Ones

While the Thunder got almost all the calls in the first half (10-1), the calls evened up in the end and Denver missed far too many from the charity stripe.

The Nuggets missed 12 free throws and shot a dastardly 64 percent on the night. They must improve if they hope to win in it this series.

Denver Must Run the Court

The Denver Nuggets are deft when fast-breaking down the court, and they had a hard time running against the Thunder on Sunday.

Denver averages 16 fast break points per game since the trade, but they were only able to get two points on the break against Oklahoma City. The Nuggets have to focus on taking advantage of their opportunities on missed baskets and rebounds and run the court for easy points.

The Nuggets Need to Play Inside

Denver played well in the paint, 9-of-12 for 18 points, but they could have done even better. The Nuggets have to attack the hoop with reckless abandon, especially when shots are not falling from the outside—as was the case Sunday night.

Move the basketball, which leads to player movement and results in easy baskets around the hoop.

Smart Shots Down the Stretch

Out of the timeout, Denver down one point with under a minute left in the game, Kenyon Martin shot a 22-foot jumper that clanked off the iron. It was a terrible shot selection by a big man who is not known for knocking down outside shots.

Later in the game with a chance to tie it up, down three with 22 seconds remaining, the Nuggets gave the game away. With the Thunder threatening and guarding the three-point line ferociously, Raymond Felton rose up and shot the three with two Oklahoma City players in his face. Not only is Felton not the best outside shooter, he was covered, off balance and there were 12 seconds still on the game clock when he chucked the shot up.

Felton should have passed the ball and hoped it rotated to an open player, or at least to someone that was set and ready for a shot.

Many argue the Nuggets can't win because they don't have "the guy" to hit shots at the end of games—Afflalo, Smith, Gallinari and/or Chandler could be that guy—and someone has to step up, even if it's a different man every night.

Game 2 takes place Wednesday night, April 20 at 6:00 p.m. MDT in Oklahoma City's Ford Center. Game 3 is Saturday night, April 25 in Denver at 8:00 p.m.

Rich Kurtzman is a freelance journalist actively seeking a career in journalism. Along with being the CSU Rams Examiner, Kurtzman is a Denver Nuggets and NBA Featured Columnist for bleacherreport.com, the Colorado/Utah Regional Correspondent for stadiumjourney.com, a weekly contributor to milehighhoops.com and a contributor to milehighreport.com writing on the Denver Broncos.

Rich also heads up PR for K-Biz and Beezy, a Colorado-based rap group.

Please follow Rich Kurtzman on Facebook.

Please follow Rich Kurtzman on twitter.