It was great to see Aaron Gordon back on the floor for the Denver Nuggets last night.

The Nuggets power forward posted 10 points, four assists, and a rebound in his 24 minutes, playing the entire fourth quarter against the Los Angeles Clippers and showcasing some good chemistry with Nikola Jokic. Unfortunately, the Nuggets lost, and the defense was the biggest reason for blame. Denver allowed 126 points and wasn’t disciplined enough to make plays when they needed to make them.

This is another poor defensive showing against a good team, emphasizing Denver’s potential pitfalls against the best teams in the league. Can the Nuggets string together enough stops defensively when it matters? It’s a fair concern to have at this point.

On the latest episode of Pickaxe and Roll, Ryan Blackburn breaks down the Denver Nuggets close loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. James Harden and Norman Powell combined for 67 points. While Nikola Jokic had 28 points and a triple-double, no other Nugget had more than 18. Ryan discusses what happened, why the concerns are real, Aaron Gordon returning to play, and more.

Pickaxe and Roll is a Nuggets podcast streamed live on YouTube every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday at 10am MT. You can catch episodes live by subscribing to the Mile High Sports YouTube channel and turning on Bell Notifications.

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If you can’t catch Pickaxe and Roll live, listen to the audio version on the BLEAV Podcast Network, or download this podcast episode wherever you get podcasts.