The Denver Nuggets allowed their most points all season in a 149-135 dominating effort by the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Cavaliers shot 23-of-48 from three-point range good for 47.9%. They were absolutely on fire with a variety of players hitting open threes generated by one of the most potent offenses in the NBA. Donovan Mitchell led them with 33 points, but Darius Garland added 25 points, Evan Mobley added 26, and Jarrett Allen added 22. It was an incredible offensive performance, highlighting all of Denver’s defensive weaknesses at once.

“They’re a great team. They do that every night,” Head Coach Michael Malone shared about the Cavaliers postgame. “They have the best record in the NBA, the number one offense in the NBA, and no one seems to be able to stop that team, so kudos to them.”

“They have seven guys shooting over 40% from three. We have two. They have shooting everywhere, off the bench, starting lineup…it’s definitely a challenge to guard the three-point line against that team because they get them in so many ways, shapes and forms.”

Malone isn’t letting his own team off the hook, merely acknowledging a great team when he sees one. He had plenty to say about the Nuggets efforts.

“149 points and 23 made threes is obviously not going to cut it.”

The offense for Denver ended up being extremely impressive as well. Nikola Jokic had 27 points, 14 rebounds, and 13 assists. Jamal Murray had 27 points and 11 assists of his own, one of his best showings on that end this entire year.

The Nuggets as a team put up 135 points, shot over 55% from the field and 50% from three. They didn’t have an outlandish number of turnovers, and they got up 18 free throw attempts. It was pretty great process on that end.

And yet, it’s impossible to fully credit a great offensive performance after the Nuggets nearly gave up 150.

Braun and the Nuggets guards struggled to get over screens tonight with Mitchell, Garland, and even Caris LeVert getting wherever they wanted to go.

Know Thyself

Pregame, I asked Michael Malone about what has helped the Nuggets stabilize in past years and how they can get into a good rhythm once again.

He spoke about defense, unsurprisingly. That proved prophetic tonight.

“You’ve got to understand why you win and why you lose,” Malone shared before the Nuggets allowed 149. “Overall this season, our defense is not where it needs to be. We were eighth last year. Right now, I think we’re 15 or 16. And our transition defense, our paint defense, and our second chance points allowed are all bottom five. So, that is going to make it hard to be a team that consistently plays well and defends well if you are getting beat down the floor off the dribble and on the glass night and night out.”

The Nuggets know what they have to do. The question is whether they have the personnel, the mentality, or the guiding voice to get there.

Nikola Jokic spoke after the game and had some interesting things to say about the state of the team to this point.

“I think [with] how bad we play, I think we’re in a good spot.”

After asked for a follow-up, he elaborated: “It seems like we go in a good direction, but then we take a couple steps back. We are not really consistent in how we play. It basically depends on night to night.”

Right now, the Nuggets are clearly an inconsistent team. They give inconsistent effort on defense, but it’s less about the effort and more about the communication and understanding of what will happen. The Nuggets are still trying to figure out where everyone is supposed to be in different coverages, that at the end of the shot clock after a scramble situation, many teams find an open three anyway after good defense for most of the possession. That’s when teams have to work hard for a shot, let alone when they can just waltz into the paint or any open three-pointer.

The bottom line: if the Nuggets don’t right the ship defensively, they will never get to where they want to go. They found a way to right the ship in the 2022-23 season, and they only had to do it for three months of the regular season to prove that it could happen. If the Nuggets can at least prove they can lock in for a consistent stretch, that will go a long way toward believing they can compete for a title.

For now, they just look so far away from that, both from a talent and connection standpoint as a roster.

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