Analysis: How Former Miami Hurricane Bruce Brown Has Helped the Denver Nuggets Reach the NBA Finals

Fifth-year guard-forward Bruce Brown Jr. has been a pivotal contributor to the Denver Nuggets’ NBA Finals run.

As Denver’s sixth-man, Brown has averaged 12.2 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 26 minutes per game this postseason in a playmaking role similar to the one he excelled in at Miami, where he averaged 3.5 assists per game.

“Our offense at Miami was pick-and-roll, and I usually had the ball in my hands to make plays,” Brown told NBA TV after the Nuggets’ Game 2 win of the Western Conference Finals (WCF) against the Los Angeles Lakers. “And now I get an opportunity to show what I can do here in Denver.”

Brown’s series against the Lakers was the culmination of the success he’s had throughout the playoffs. He averaged 12.3 points per game against Los Angeles on 53/36/100 shooting splits. Brown also dished out 2.5 assists per game and maintained an incredible 10:1 assist-to-turnover ratio in these four games. 

In this WCF series, Brown was at his scoring best in transition. He connected on eight of his 19 baskets in these situations. 10 of his other 11 buckets came from a mix of early shot-clock isolations, catch-and-shoot 3-pointers, off-ball cuts and movements near the rim and offensive rebounds. The other basket scored was on a spot-up, one-dribble floater.

What has been the one constant in all of this? Each basket was scored either in the paint or from behind the 3-point line, signaling the simplicity of his points.

“I just try to find easy ones out in transition,” Brown said. “When the shot’s there, take it, but the team’s got the most confidence in me that I’ve had since I’ve been in the league, so they tell me to play my game every night and be aggressive.”

Brown’s 10 assists against the Lakers did not follow any pattern. Some of these passes were in transition, while others were in Denver’s half-court offense. Of these half-court assists, there was a blend of simple ball reversals and more decisive ball-screen reads.

Even though he’s playing at the highest offensive level of his professional career, Brown has kept up the tough, hard-nosed perimeter defense and nonstop hustling that he’s known for.

“[Brown’s] got so many tools that he can use to help you win,” Miami head coach Jim Larrañaga told Detroit Pistons advisor Ed Stefanski in 2018 in an article written by The Athletic.

If the Nuggets can capture their first title in franchise history, Brown would also become the first former Hurricane to win an NBA championship since James Jones in 2016.