The Denver Nuggets went on the road on Thursday night and lost 126-114 to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

By itself, this loss really isn’t that bad. The Cavs are 20-3. They’ve been incredible to start the year, and they’re relentless in their process, creating great shots consistently and using their two dynamic bigs to guard defensively. There’s no shame in dropping this one.

The Nuggets shot just 6-of-24 from three-point range in this game. They were 1-of-10 in the first half. When teams make fewer than seven threes in a game, they’re 2-15 on the season. It’s understandable that Denver lost with those numbers in mind.

Unfortunately for the Nuggets, their expectations are high, and they had a chance to win this one with better shooting. The lack of shooting looks especially dire when the Cavaliers shoot 22-of-48 from three. Denver simply couldn’t keep up on the perimeter on either end.

Nikola Jokic had 27 points, 20 rebounds, and 11 assists tonight. It wasn’t his best performance, shooting just 13-of-26 from the field and missing some make-able shots. Yet, he still was the best player by far and dictated the game nicely.

Jokic did get some help from the starting unit too. Michael Porter Jr. had 24 points, shot 3-of-6 from three, and even had four steals and two blocks. He was flying around on both ends of the floor and was great for much of the game. Aaron Gordon had 18 points on 13 shots. Jamal Murray had 19 points on 16 shots to go with six assists compared to one turnover. Christian Braun continued his double-digit point streak (now at 20 straight games).

But the burden on the starters is just too high.

Russell Westbrook, Julian Strawther, Peyton Watson, and Zeke Nnaji played off the bench tonight. Nnaji lasted just three minutes, prematurely exiting without doing anything of note. Westbrook was fine individually in his minutes with Jokic but really struggled when Jokic wasn’t out there. Strawther couldn’t stay on the floor and guard. Watson was able to guard but looked uncomfortable offensively.

Beyond those four (really three without Nnaji) there just aren’t any answers that Denver can go to.

Overall, Denver’s defense wasn’t good enough tonight. There were too many breakdowns with the starters, but the most breakdowns happened with the bench units. Denver couldn’t make up any ground in those moments, gave up some points in transition, and simply couldn’t make the rotations necessary to keep up with an elite Cavs offense.

Not Enough Answers

Here’s the reality for the Nuggets through 20 games: they’re a mostly average team.

After tonight, the Nuggets have the sixth ranked offensive rating, 20th ranked defensive rating, and the 15th ranked net rating in the NBA. They’ve been about average for a quarter of the season.

Fortunately, it’s the least important quarter of the entire NBA calendar. There’s plenty of time for the Nuggets to figure things out or make some roster changes if need be.

That’s the point though: a roster change looks more and more like the answer. Asking one of Denver’s bench players that don’t play to change the complexion of the Nuggets season feels like an impossible answer. Dario Saric isn’t changing that game. Nor are DeAndre Jordan, Hunter Tyson, or Jalen Pickett. Vlatko Cancar and DaRon Holmes II are injured. It’s too early for Trey Alexander, PJ Hall, or Spencer Jones.

So, if the Nuggets don’t have the answers outside of their top 8, then there are two courses of action that could help them:

  1. Either the top 8, namely Murray and the bench, play better
  2. ABolster the team with some players outside the roster

It’s a relatively easy conclusion to come to. It’s also still so early. The trade deadline is over two months away, and most teams would rather wait until then instead of making a deal with Denver now.

So, what’s the best course of action for the next two months? It’s hard to say.

What isn’t hard to say: the Nuggets aren’t at the level of the top teams in the NBA. Not yet at least.

Final Rotations