As Nuggets prepare for Clippers’ Hall of Fame tandem of James Harden and Kawhi Leonard, why David Adelman is reminded of Tom Brady

The Nuggets have their hands full with Tom Brady.

Intellectually, that’s the comparison David Adelman offered for James Harden this week, needing a different sport to accurately place the patience and precision with which Harden operates a pick-and-roll. The idea is that he’s still got it, even as his beard grays.

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Another apt parallel would be Denver’s own past-his-prime gunslinger.

“He reminds me, at his age now, of some of the great drop-back quarterbacks. A Peyton Manning, a Tom Brady, where they’ve seen it all, and they decipher things so fast,” Adelman said Wednesday as the Nuggets prepared for the playoffs. “It’s almost like he’s in slow motion. He’s letting you rotate. He’s letting you do what you want to do. Letting your game-plan happen, then taking advantage of it.”

At the Clippers’ core is a pair of grizzled Hall of Famers for Denver to reckon with in the first round, starting Saturday (1:30 p.m. MT) at Ball Arena. Harden, 35, is a former MVP and three-time scoring champion. Kawhi Leonard, 33, is a two-time Defensive Player of the Year who’s been crowned NBA Finals MVP twice. They complete each other nicely, the point guard who facilitates as effortlessly as he scores and the prototypical two-way star wing with championship DNA.

Aaron Gordon is likely to confront Leonard as the primary defender. Christian Braun is tabbed to take on Harden.

True-to-life simulations for those matchups are tough to come by, but Denver’s rookies are trying their best now that the G League season is over. Spencer Jones role-played as Leonard for the Nuggets’ scout team on Thursday. Trey Alexander was Harden, AKA Brady.

“I’ve seen a lot of Trey Alexander the last couple days,” Braun said.

Harden’s pick-and-roll prowess with center Ivica Zubac (played by P.J. Hall) is one thing. His one-on-one craftiness is another. In 673 isolations this season, according to Synergy, he averaged 1.06 points per possession, second only to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander among players who isolated at least 300 times. Harden drew shooting fouls on 19.6% of those possessions. In the Clippers’ two wins against Denver this season, he scored 25 of his 62 points at the charity stripe.

“You can’t show James the same thing all the time,” Adelman said. “And I don’t even think you can show him (only) one adjustment. … We have to be creative. We may have to try some stuff out of the box we haven’t done before.”

The interim coach also pointed out that Denver might need reinforcements to guard Leonard if Gordon is going to assume his dual role as postseason backup center. As versatile as the 29-year-old power forward is, he can’t play all 48 minutes. This series could be a watershed moment for Peyton Watson. Braun might be asked to shift assignments. He has the physical profile to deter drives and post-ups against bigger wings.

“He’s one of the best two-way players of all time. Without injury, I think we’d be talking about him as one of the top players to ever play the game,” Adelman said of Leonard. “So tons of respect for him. I mean this: Even though we’re gonna play these guys in a seven-game series, it’s good to see him back out there. He’s good for the game.”

The Nuggets finished the regular season with a bottom-10 defense in the league, largely because their personnel on the perimeter was inadequate. That shortage is going to be tested by Los Angeles. If Gordon is guarding Leonard and Braun is on Harden when both starting lineups are on the floor, that leaves Jamal Murray or Michael Porter Jr. to match up against Norman Powell.

This season, 58 players in the NBA attempted 400 or more 3s. Powell was the second-most efficient among them at 41.8%. Chasing him off the ball and limiting his touches will add one more daunting challenge.

“I think Norm is super-underrated,” Murray said. “I’ve been liking his game since he was in Toronto. Super-strong. Gets downhill. He’s aggressive. If he misses three or four, it doesn’t waver his confidence.”

Murray and Porter are also likely to be hunted on switches by the most iso-dependent team in the NBA. Murray defended in isolation more than all but six players in the league this season.

At the other end, Porter expects Leonard and Kris Dunn will take turns defending him and Murray. Whether the Clippers do that or stick Leonard on Gordon, though, they’ll be giving up a size advantage to Denver in at least one matchup. Harden can be relatively hidden on Braun, but the 6-foot-4 Powell has to take someone. Gordon and Porter are both at least 4 inches taller.

In 56 minutes with Jokic, Gordon and Porter on the floor together against the Clippers’ second-ranked defense in the West, the Nuggets produced a 122.7 offensive rating this season — four points better than any of their six other three-man combinations that played more minutes in this matchup.